Stargate Atlantis

by Forestmoon

"Noura"

Author's Note: Some might notice that Teyla was not very pregnant in episode 11 and was suddenly very pregnant in episode 12. A lot of time passed between those episodes. This is just one story that takes place between that time. *spoiler alert*

A/N 2: The forward (added on 01 June 2009) contains a lot of spoilers so skip over it if you have not watched up to Season 4 Episode 12 but still want to read this short story.

FORWARD

They saved the city of Atlantis and risked their lives on the Replicator home world to retrieve a Zero Point Modulator. Samantha Carter took over command after Weir was lost to them.

Alien crystal entities invaded their minds and infectious diseases overpowered the people of the city. The people of New Athos - gone. Telya with child who's father is now missing with her people.

A prophet told of Atlantis's great destruction. Clones, replicated Stargate personnel sacrificing themselves to save their original counterparts.

Alliances made, enemies defeated, nothing was ever for certain. The teams on Atlantis have been through much yet there are days when all the chaos and worry can be laid to rest.

There are rare glimpses into what might happen between saving Atlantis, Earth or the human race.

This is just one such story.

"I could never tell her how I feel. She is under my care and guidance and I am her mentor, her teacher. I must never cross that line." – Sheppard.

Chapter 1 – New Recruits

It was just another day on the Atlantis base after the Replicators have been defeated and the Wraith have gone back to being their sworn enemy.

Colonel Samantha Carter sat and waited in the board room for her early morning meeting. As usual, Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard and Ronon Dex arrived first, soon followed by Doctor Rodney McKay. Moments later Doctor Katie Brown from the botanist lab arrived as well much to Rodney's surprise.

After they all greeted each other and took their seats, Col. Carter handed out a file to Sheppard, McKay and Brown.

"I have called you all here this morning to inform you that the I.O.A. has assigned us some new recruits." She began.

Katie Brown looked around the room confused as to how this concerned her. After all, she was not a member of their team, she was just a scientist. McKay gave her a feint smile then opened his folder. Inside was a picture of a young Asian man with glasses. "Um, okay." Is all he could say also unsure what this meant to him.

"As you know the military has several mentorship programs in existence and they are extending that idea here."

"You mean they intend to replace us." Sheppard interrupted.

Carter gave him a tolerant look and replied. "No, not replace. They feel this will speed up hands-on-training." She sat down again and looked at their confused faces.

Sheppard gave a smirk and opened his file. Inside was a picture of a pretty young woman with long brown hair. His eyes lit up and he smiled. "Not bad." He remarked to himself. This concerned Carter somewhat but she quickly refocused and continued to explain.

"You will each be assigned a student for a few weeks and they will pretty much shadow you during that time. Try to behave and it will all be over soon enough." She looked to Ronon and smiled. "Well not you Ronon, I asked you here just to make you aware of what will be happening. As you know Teyla has taken some shore leave and will be away for a while for the duration of her pregnancy."

Dr. Brown then raised her hand slightly feeling rather silly after doing so.

"Yes Katie?" Carter asked.

"So this Dr. Julia West is assigned to me?" She asked nervously in a room full of her superiors.

Carter smiled. "Yes. If you have any concerns just come speak with me. You will do fine."

"So," Sheppard began, "this is a babysitting gig?"

"Rather you than me." Ronon joked as McKay gave off a light sigh.

"I don't have time to babysit some wanna-be. Can't you give him to Zelenka, I am sure he has plenty free time." McKay begged not interested in this assignment at all. Carter had to take a deep breath and refocus once again.

"No, this is more than a baby sitting job." She began again. "When I was with Stargate Command, I joined a similar program and mentored a young girl who turned out to be a very promising addition to the SGC. You have the opportunity to mould these people and teach them. You should not take this assignment lightly. Please understand its potential and importance in the greater scheme of things. You were chosen to mentor these kids because of your brilliance in your field."

She looked at Rodney who shrugged and nodded accepting the compliment.

"Hey, I don't mind babysitting this one." Sheppard smiled looking at her photo again giving Ronon a look as well. Carter got a little annoyed but said nothing in response.

"Um, when are they arriving?" Dr. Brown asked distracting Carter from her train of thought.

"Oh, yes. This afternoon. They are en route with the Douglas. They wanted them to get the full experience. I trust you will all do your best, dismissed."

They all stood up and left. Ronon was the first to hi-tail it out of there, followed promptly by Sheppard who was eager to read the file in his hands. Rodney sighed again and smiled at Katie before leaving. Katie was the last to leave unsure of protocol.

At breakfast in the mess hall, Sheppard read over the file. The woman's name was First Lieutenant Leah Turner. She had good scores in a wide range of fields, top score in sharp shooting and was a very good pilot not to mention she had a black belt equivalent in Kung-Fu and was described as being an aggressive fighter. She had also been running with SG-12 for a few months.

On another page in her file it listed her merits and a classified section on her permanent record. Now this was the kind of information Sheppard was interested in as it lent itself well to describing a person's personality and made for good reading.

It began with several arrests and a juvenile record before she enlisted into the military. It continued with bar fights, being kicked from the program and failure to follow orders. How she managed to get into the Stargate program remained a mystery. She must be very good as what she did or she had connections. These were Sheppard's reasoning as to how she became a first lieutenant. Then again, he has his share of black listings to his record but not that many.

The rest of the day went by without any major problems and the base continued to run at its norm. It was not often things were this calm and there were no immediate threats to deal with.

The much anticipated afternoon arrived sooner than expected and word of the new arrivals entering the sector reached Atlantis.

* * *

Sheppard, McKay and Dr. Brown were summoned to the main hall as the guests had arrived in orbit and would be beamed down momentarily. Carter waited anxiously for their arrival and gave the all clear for them to be beamed in.

Seconds later five people stood before them—the ship captain, a crewman and the three new recruits. It was easy to tell them apart from their photos. The three new recruits were all dressed in smart uniforms. Dr. Julia West was dressed in a skirt and blouse, hair pinned up and a small bag in hand. Dr. Adam Lee, the scientist, was dressed in a standard science uniform and 1st Lt. Leah Turner was dressed in her air force smart uniform, skirt, blouse, blazer and hair neatly tied up.

Sheppard's little grin did not go unnoticed by Carter who greeted the captain, the group, then focused all her attention on Leah Turner, who had just glanced at Sheppard quickly then looked away shyly.

When Turner's eyes met with carters they both smiled. Turner dropped her bag and ran to Carter who met her halfway just as eager. They embraced in a hug much to Sheppard, Ronon and McKay's surprise. Not too concerned, McKay gestured to Dr. Lee to come with him unimpressed with everything and ready to get it all over with. Katie followed suite and met with Dr. West and welcomed her to Atlantis before leading her off to the labs.

"Sam!" Turner shouted all excited.

"Good to see you Leah." She replied.

"You have to tell me everything! It's been so long. We have so much to talk about."

Carter walked with Leah to retrieve her bag then began leading her towards her office. Sheppard was about to approach and introduce himself when Carter cut him off.

"I got this one John." She noted.

The two of them hurried up to the office and began catching up. Ronon gave Sheppard a raised brow look and patted him on the back for moral support.

"Um, sure okay." John muttered to himself utterly confused at what had just happened.

"Good luck with that one man." Ronon joked before heading off himself leaving Sheppard to stand there alone pondering what to do. Something suddenly occurred to him and with confidence and conviction he stormed off to Carter's office.

He knocked on the door and entered not waiting for an invite. "If I may have a word?" He asked Samantha who paused briefly in mid sentence with Leah.

She nodded and called in one of the security details and asked them to escort Turner to her quarters. "We'll catch up later." She said as Leah left the office.

When Leah was gone and they were alone, John spoke his mind. "What was that all about?"

Carter moved and sat behind her desk gesturing for John to have a seat. He hesitated but eventually sat down realising she was not going to tell him anything unless he calmed down.

"I am sorry John, I should have told you. I am reassigning Turner so you are off the hook."

"Since when?"

"Since now. I feel she will be better suited assigned to me. This does not reflect badly towards you in any way. I just think it would be more appropriate to learn in this environment, that's all."

John could tell there was something more to it and pressed her for answers. "Okay, I get that – I think. But you two seemed to know each other?"

Carter cleared her throat and looked a little guilty. "Well remember I told you I mentored someone back at the SGC? That's her."

A semi-satisfied expression crossed Sheppard's face and suddenly it all made sense. "Very well. Your call. I guess I'll just be going now." He concluded as he stood up.

Carter apologised once more as he left then sank into her own thoughts. Perhaps she was just being too over protective but in any case, this was for the best.

One evening, a few days later, Sheppard was doing his final rounds before heading to his quarters for the night. As he passed one of the balconies he noticed Turner standing outside looking out at the stars.

At first he hesitated and convinced himself to carry on walking, but then he stopped, moaned at himself for what he was about to do and joined her on the balcony.

She startled and turned to look at who was approaching her. He lifted his hands in a friendly gesture.

"Sorry, didn't mean to frighten you."

"That's okay, Sir. No harm done." She returned to look at the stars.

"Call me John." He said then walked and stood next to her noticing that she seemed troubled. "I don't mean to pry but is everything okay?" He asked.

She hesitated not sure if it was her place to talk to him or what to do. However, he was her superior and she could not talk to Carter about it, so in her reasoning she felt is was not too out of line to speak with him.

"Well it's nothing really. May I be frank and can this be kept between us?"

John nodded. "Of course."

She turned to face him and looked around to make sure they were alone. "I am so bored! This is so not what I thought I signed up for. Don't get me wrong, I respect Sam and she does a great job and is good at what she does, but it's just not me."

"Have you told her this?"

Turner looked to the floor and shook her head. "No. I can't, it would break her heart. I owe her so much. Please promise me you won't say anything."

Sheppard nodded in agreement and looked out over the ocean. Turner joined him and glared out over the vast darkness, both lost in thought.

"Wish I could just hit something, you know?" Turner suddenly blurted out then shyly cringed realising she said that out loud.

Sheppard laughed and smiled. "I have just the thing, come with me."

Unsure what to do, Leah followed him. Anything was better than wasting away in the cold being bored stiff. Soon he led her into a circular room. On the walls were padding and a few basic training weapons. She quickly realised that it was a combat training area and smiled in approval.

John removed his jacket and rolled up his sleeves. Leah followed his lead and took off her jacket as well then began to do a few basic stretches. John threw her a training staff which she caught and spun around in the air.

"Let's see what you are made of." He remarked teasing her recalling that she had martial arts training behind her.

"Very well, just remember, you asked for it." She teased back.

They both began circling when suddenly Leah stopped and straighten out. "Wait! We're not going to get into any trouble are we?"

"Of course not, you're with me." He assured her.

She returned to her stance for a second then stopped again. This time Sheppard stopped as well.

"Yes?"

Leah smiled. "So I'm not going to be court marshalled or anything for striking a superior officer right?"

"You presume you'll get that close but no, you're safe. Right now I am simply John. So less talk more hitting okay? Or are you chickening out?" He pushed.

Satisfied and focused, Leah returned to the fight at hand. She soon realised Sheppard was waiting for her to make the first move so she obliged and lunged in with a forceful jab to his side. John countered her strike and responded with a swing back which she gracefully ducked under.

While still in motion she swung her stick around low and swept his legs from under him landing him on the ground.

"Lucky shot." He admitted. Leah just smiled and waited for her opponent to get up. This is exactly what she needed, a good brawl to get rid of her stress.

They continued to spar and Leah got in another supposed lucky shot to his arm.

"Holding back on me John?" She joked.

He gave a fake sarcastic smile and rubbed his bruised arm.

"Just don't feel right hitting a girl that all."

Leah laughed. "You say the sweetest things."

They continued to spar for nearly an hour before they decided to call it quits for the night. During that time John did manage to get in a few strikes but for the most part she had him beat. She was definitely a fighter at heart not a politician.

At that moment Adam was heading down the hallway to his quarters. He had stayed up later than usual to work on a program. When he heard Leah's laughter as the doors opened he hid behind a wall. They were unaware that he was watching them. Leah and Sheppard stepped out of the room both smiling.

"Any time." Sheppard said and they bid their good nights and headed to their respective rooms.

Adam cringed at the thoughts that ran though his head seeing them together. After they cleared the halls, he marched angrily to his room.

To Be Continued...

Disclaimer: Fanfiction. I only own the character(s) I added and created for this story being 1st Lt. Leah Turner, Dr. Adam Lee and Dr. Julia West.