DISCLAIMER: Sadly, it is MGM, etc, and NOT I, who owns any of the characters in this story. I just like to borrow them sometimes, and then gently put them back before anyone notices they're gone. (It's more fun that way.) If you decide to play along, please don't break them, or I'll be in deep trouble!!

HALF-LIVES

CHAPTER 1

"Will you hold Torren for me, John?"

John Sheppard looked up from the magazine he had been casually flipping through, and smiled nervously at Teyla. "I'm not very good with babies…" he reminded her.

Teyla grinned back. "You will be fine. It is only for a moment."

Sheppard sighed, and tossed the magazine onto a nearby chair. "Ok, I'll give it a shot."

Teyla stepped over to him and carefully placed her neatly-swaddled son in his arms, then stood back to watch both of them for a moment. Sheppard looked down at Torren, who was sleeping quietly, his tiny fists curled up under his chin, then glanced at Teyla.

"He looks like you."

"So I have been told," she replied, as she went back to folding some clothes on her bed.

"You did a good job, Mom."

She sighed then, and laid a pair of slacks, neatly folded into a rectangle, in an open drawer. When she didn't turn around right away, Sheppard was immediately curious, not to mention a little nervous.

"Teyla?"

She just shook her head, still turned with her back to him, her hands placed on top of the dresser. Sheppard slowly stood up, making sure not to wake Torren, and walked over to her.

"What's wrong?" he asked, nudging her with an elbow, and she looked sideways at him, her eyes shining with tears.

"Oh boy," he muttered. He'd definitely done something very wrong. He turned toward Torren's cradle and carefully laid the little bundle down, wincing as he tried to slide his arms out from under the baby without waking him. Thankfully, Torren only shifted, but didn't wake, and Sheppard strode back over to where Teyla stood.

"Hey," he said quietly, taking both her shoulders in his hands and staring down into her chocolate eyes. She stared back at him for a moment, but her chin soon began to quiver, and she buried her head against his chest, crying nearly silently. Sheppard wrapped his arms around her, resting his cheek on top of her head, and closed his eyes, content to simply hold her for as long as she needed him to.

After a while, she finally pulled away and wiped her eyes, managing a small apologetic smile. "I am sorry, John. I do not know what came over me."

"Well, I'm sure all the stress of being kidnapped, on top of giving birth, can mess with even the strongest of us," he said, slightly cocking his head to one side in his usual way. "Not to mention, that you gave birth while you were in the middle of being rescued. And with Kanaan being gone…"

He then realized that he probably wasn't helping much at all, and ran a hand through his brown hair. "You know what? I should probably just shut up now."

"No," Teyla said quickly. "No, you are right. The past few weeks have been very stressful. I just…" she breathed out a sigh. "I thought I was ready for this. For having a child. But I am so tired all the time, and my muscles are so sore, even though I kept in good shape during my pregnancy."

John smiled. "But now you realize you have muscles you never knew you had."

She nodded. "Yes."

"Well, I'm not busy for the next few hours. Why don't you get some sleep, and I'll take Torren with me? Just give me a bottle and some diapers, maybe one of those little cloths you carry around with you, and I…we…will be fine."

Teyla stared at him, surprised. "Are you sure?" She asked slowly, wondering if he were serious.

"Sure. If it gets too hairy, I can always find Sam to help me." He was already rummaging in the diaper bag Sam Carter had given her for a shower gift, making sure everything was inside. Teyla almost wanted to cry again. John Sheppard was always such a kind, considerate friend to her.

"All right," she agreed. "I'll just get you a bottle for him."

She walked over to a small cabinet and opened the door, to reveal a refrigerator just large enough to hold a day's worth of food, and grabbed a bottle near the front. She shut the door, walked to where Sheppard stood, and held the bottle out to him. He took it from her and slid it in his chest pocket, then waited for her to lift Torren from the cradle and place him in his arms.

"He'll probably be hungry as soon as he wakes. You will have to change him after he's fed, also, and make sure to burp him…"

"Teyla," Sheppard interrupted, and she fell silent. "We'll be fine. I'll figure it out. You go take a nap, okay?"

"Of course. And thank you, John."

"It's no problem." He leaned down and planted a small kiss on her cheek. "Good night."

Then, with a nod at her, he opened the door and walked out. Teyla sighed, put away the rest of the clothes, and then lay down in her warm bed. She was asleep as soon as her eyes closed.

"I always knew you were a cradle-robber, Sheppard."

Sheppard smirked at Rodney McKay from across the table in the mess hall, then retorted, "And I always knew you were a horrible comedian."

McKay grinned sarcastically before taking a bite of his lunch. "So," he said around a mouthful of lettuce, "How'd you get stuck babysitting?"

"I didn't. I volunteered."

Rodney put down his fork and stared at his friend. "You what?!"

"Teyla's exhausted. So, I told her to get some rest while I took care of Torren."

"Well, okay, but are you sure you're qualified for that sort of thing? I mean, this is a tiny person we're talking about."

"You worry too much, McKay," a deep voice rumbled from beside the table. Both men looked up to see Ronon Dex standing there, a tray of food in his hand. He took an empty seat, and opened the bottle of water he'd pulled from his pocket. "Babysitting? You're not really going to sit on him, are you?"

Sheppard shook his head. "Well, I can't promise I won't do it on accident." When he saw the horrified look on Ronon's face, he laughed. "I'm kidding. 'Babysitting' just means 'taking care of someone else's kid for a while'."

Ronon frowned. "You and your Earth terms."

"Hey," Sheppard said, "you happen to enjoy a lot of my 'Earth terms'. If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't know what 'beer' was."

Ronon grinned and took a swig of his water. "That is true."

"So, how long do you have to 'babysit'?" Rodney asked.

"Ah, I dunno. A few hours, I guess."

Just then, Torren began to squirm in the crook of his right arm. His tiny arms pulled free of the swaddling, and started to wave around as he squalled softly. Soon, however, his cries grew louder, and Sheppard's eyes widened as he realized just how loud such a small person could be.

"Um…" Rodney said as he looked around and saw how many people had turned to see what the noise was about.

"Calm down, Rodney. I've got it." Sheppard pulled out the bottle Teyla had given him, popped the cap off, and held it to Torren's lips. The baby eagerly took the bottle and stopped crying, his mouth now too busy sucking down the milk in the bottle.

When he saw that Torren was again happy, Sheppard gave a triumphant smile to his friends. "See. Told you I've got it."

"Yeah. Great," Rodney grouched. "Just wait a few minutes, when you've got to change him. We'll see what you say then."

"You know, Rodney," Sheppard began as he shifted Torren's weight to a more comfortable place in his arm, "sometimes your pessimism still shocks me."

"I'm not pessimistic. I'm realistic. Big difference."

"Uh-huh."

Rodney sighed, and pushed back his chair. "Whatever. Anyway, have fun babysitting. I'll be in the control room with Zelenka."

When he was gone, Ronon pushed his tray away from him and sat back to watch Sheppard, crossing his huge arms over his chest.

Sheppard noticed him staring, and asked, "What?"

Ronon grinned. "Nothing. I was just wondering if you've ever done this before."

Sheppard shook his head. "Nah. No one I know has ever had kids."

"Well, for someone with no experience, you seem to be doing okay."

Sheppard just shrugged. When he glanced down, he realized the bottle was empty, so he gently pulled it out of Torren's mouth and set it on the table. Torren began to squirm and cry again, his face turning red. Sheppard remembered Teyla telling him about burping the baby, so he pulled a small cloth from the diaper bag, slung it over his shoulder, and then placed Torren there. He awkwardly patted the baby's back a few times, but it didn't seem to be working.

Ronon watched all this in amusement, until he saw Sheppard's look of helplessness. With a sigh, he stood up and came around the table, holding out his arms for the baby. Sheppard handed Torren to him, and then placed the cloth over Ronon's shoulder. Ronon carefully but firmly patted the little boy's back, and after a few moments, a loud burp erupted from him. His cries stopped immediately.

Sheppard pouted. "I could've done that."

"It's okay," Ronon assured him. "I've had a little practice, that's all. You want him back, now?"

"Yeah."

Ronon gave both the cloth, and Torren back to him. "I'm gonna go downstairs, see what I can do in the gym. If you need help again…"

"I'll be fine," Sheppard interjected, his ego still a little bruised that he'd needed help, much less help from another man. If it had been Carter, he could've dealt with it, but Ronon? His huge friend would never let him live it down.

"Have fun, then."

As the doors closed after Ronon, Sheppard looked down at Torren, who was trying to put his fist in his mouth.

"Looks like it's just you and me, buddy. What now?"

A sound from inside the blanket reached his ears, just before a horrid stench invaded his nostrils, and he could've sworn that Torren grinned up at him.

"Oh!" Sheppard exclaimed. "Nasty!"

He looked around for some place to lay the baby down, but realized that he was still in the mess hall. He grabbed the diaper bag and started to leave, then had to turn around to grab the bottle he'd left on the table. Now sure he had everything, he walked quickly through the mess hall doors, and made his way down to his own room.

He set Torren down on the bed, plunked the diaper bag on the nightstand, and pulled a diaper from inside the bag. He looked for some kind of wipes or something to clean Torren with, but he couldn't see anything among the million items packed into the bag.

"Geez," he muttered, and decided to simply dump the contents of the bag onto the bed. Finally, he found a slim, white box, and when he opened it, saw that it contained a handful of wipes. He also grabbed a small bottle that was labeled "baby powder", and turned toward Torren, who was happily gumming a tube of rash cream he'd snatched from nearby.

"Oh, crap!" Sheppard exclaimed, retrieving the cream and checking to see if any had gotten in Torren's mouth. Luckily, there hadn't, and he swept everything within Torren's reach back into the bag. He pulled off Torren's little green pants, and opened the tape on the diaper as if he were defusing a bomb. With a grimace, he checked inside it, and then quickly closed it again. The tape wouldn't stick, however, so he held it closed with one hand, and tapped the comm. device in his ear with the other.

"Um, Colonel Carter?"

Carter's voice came over the comm. "Yes, Sheppard?"

"You very busy at the moment?"

"Not really," she said with a small chuckle. Rodney had already told her about Sheppard's "baby duty", as he'd called it. "What's up?"

"I need you to come to my room. I've got a…situation…here."

"I'll be right there."

"Hurry, if you can."

Carter chuckled again as she switched off her earpiece and left her office.

When she arrived in Sheppard's quarters, Colonel Carter took in the scene before her. Sheppard was still holding the diaper closed with one hand, though now with much difficulty since Torren was squirming around. His T-shirt was pulled up around his face in a kind of improvised gas mask.

"I've never seen…it's so gross," he offered helplessly through his shirt, and Carter nudged him aside.

As she quickly changed the baby, she asked, "How is it you men can see blood and guts everywhere, and you have no problem, but as soon as you need to change a diaper, you nearly pass out?"

"'Cause blood doesn't smell like that!"

Carter laughed out loud. "You big baby. Here you go, all nice and clean again." She held Torren out to him, and he took him and settled him into the crook of his arm, while pulling his shirt off of his face.

"Thank you," he replied with a loud sigh, relieved to finally be breathing fresh air again.

"You're welcome, but I'm not doing it for you again."

"But…"

Carter shook her head vigorously. "No, John. If you want to learn, you have to do it for yourself. Otherwise, you can take Torren back to Teyla right now."

"No. No, I'll do it. She needs her rest."

Carter smiled at him. "You're a good friend for doing this, John."

"Well, I always kind of wanted a kid or two, myself. I'd like to think that I'd be a helpful dad, if not a very good one."

"Oh, I don't know about that. You're strong, but with a small helping of gentleness; something severely lacking in most men. I find that quality endearing."

Sheppard cocked his head and grinned. "Really?"

"Aaand there's that massive ego," she laughed, patting his shoulder. "I've got to get back to the control room. If you need anything, don't call me."

"Thanks, Colonel."

"You're welcome."

When she left, Sheppard sat down on the edge of the bed, clueless as to what to do now. Torren had fallen asleep again, a small smile on his pink lips. A muscle car magazine lay open on his nightstand, but to be honest, he didn't really want to move and possibly wake the baby, so he simply sat there, glancing around at the walls in his quarters. He gazed for a while at his Johnny Cash poster, as he'd done millions of times already, and then decided to slowly shift so he could relax on the whole bed, rather than the edge.

When he was comfortably reclining against his pillows, Sheppard closed his eyes, thinking back to the past few weeks' events. Teyla's capture by Michael had truly scared him; he had a duty to protect not only a member of his team, but also her unborn child, and Sheppard had failed on both counts.

He hadn't intended on falling asleep, but he soon found that he was more worn out than he'd thought. Torren's cries made him jerk awake a while later, and he was instantly afraid that he'd either dropped him or rolled on top of him. A breath of relief washed through him when he saw that the baby was still snuggled into his arm, and he stood up to try and calm his cries.

"Smooth move, John," he scolded himself under his breath. Then, to the baby, he asked, "What's wrong, buddy? You can't be hungry again."

Torren's cries grew louder, seemingly in response to his question. Good thing these rooms are nearly soundproof, he thought as he placed Torren over his shoulder and rubbed his back. After trying a dozen other things to calm him, and failing each time, Sheppard's gaze rested on the guitar standing in the corner, and he nodded approvingly.

"Might as well give it a shot."

He laid Torren down on the bed, and grabbed the guitar by the neck. He slid the strap over his head and one shoulder, strummed it quickly to make sure it was still in tune, and then sat again on the edge of the bed, facing the baby.

"This is for you, Torren John," he said, smiling as he emphasized the 'John'. It was no secret that Teyla had honored Sheppard by naming her son after him, and he would never let anyone forget it.

After a moment's thought, he began to softly play his favorite Johnny Cash song. He hadn't realized he'd been singing along, until Torren's cries had died down to a few whimpers and whines. Even though he knew he was alone, he suddenly felt very self-conscious.

Sheppard stopped playing, and stared down at the baby. "I figured you'd like that."

"You have a wonderful voice, John," a voice suddenly said behind him, and though it startled him, he was careful not to show it. Instead, he slowly turned around, to see Teyla standing there, her eyes bright with tears.

"Oh, hi," he replied, standing up and setting his guitar back against the wall. "You sleep well?"

Teyla smiled warmly. She knew he was deliberately ignoring her compliment, but she let it go. Instead, she said, "Yes, thank you. I feel as if I've slept for a year."

"Good. Well, as you can see, Torren is just as you left him. Except now he's fed and burped and changed. But…" he trailed off, knowing that once again, he was rambling.

"I see. Thank you again, so much. I feel much better now."

Sheppard simply nodded, content that at least she had gotten some much-needed rest.

Teyla stepped forward, and placed her hands on his shoulders. He did the same, and bowed his head to meet hers, the Athosian version of a hug.

When Teyla moved away, he asked her, "So, when does Kanaan come back?"

She frowned. "A week, at most."

"Seems like whatever negotiations he's involved with are taking a pretty long time."

"Yes. I fear that perhaps things are not going very well. I do not have a good feeling about it."

"Hmm," Sheppard said, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms. "If you want, I could take a team, see what's up."

She shook her head. "Thank you, but I'm sure things will be fine. My…"

"Hormones?" He offered, and she smiled again.

"Yes. My hormones…are making me paranoid."

"Teyla," he warned softly, pushing off the wall and taking her arm. "I've known you for five years. Your instincts aren't wrong all that often."

"Still…" she began, but he stopped her by gently tightening his grip on her arm.

"Will ya' just let me help you? If nothing's wrong, then hey, chalk it up to nervous energy." He moved his head closer to gaze into her eyes. "But wouldn't you rather be wrong, and know that you were wrong, than be right, and not know about it?"

Teyla stared at him for a while, then slowly nodded. "All right."

"Okay." He released her arm, and instead pulled her into a hug. "You have enough to worry about up here. Just let me handle it."

"I don't know what I would do without you, John," Teyla said into his chest, and he chuckled.

"Well, for one, you'd have to spar with Ronon all the time."

She laughed. "True. Very true."

Torren began to squall again, and Teyla grimaced. "I'd better go feed him again. Please, be careful."

Sheppard nodded once. "Will do, ma'am."

She picked up the diaper bag, then lifted the baby from Sheppard's bed, and walked out, with Sheppard close behind. They parted in the hallway, however, as she went to her quarters while Sheppard walked toward the Gate room.

In the Gate room, Rodney and Zelenka were squabbling over some scientific issue, while Carter wisely stayed silent, with only a quick roll of her eyes every now and then. Finally, Zelenka stormed off, uttering a string of Czech curses under his breath.

When she noticed Sheppard come in, Sam Carter nodded once to him, a grin on her fair face.

"Colonel Carter, can I speak to you?" he asked, and the seriousness of his voice wiped away her smile. He was never this solemn, not even on his worst day.

She started up the steps to her office. "Of course."

Sheppard never tired of looking around Carter's office. It was sparsely decorated, of course, like most of Atlantis, but the things she did display captured his imagination, until he had to make himself look away from them to retrieve his train of thought.

"What did you need?" She asked him, effortlessly sliding into her chair behind the desk. Though she gestured for him to sit, he only gave a slight shake of his head and remained standing, his hands clasped lightly behind his back.

"I'd like to take a team to check in with Kanaan. Seems things are going much slower than expected."

Carter frowned. "Well, that sometimes happens when dealing with new allies."

"I know. But…" he sighed quietly and looked up at the ceiling, wondering if this idea held any merit, after all. "I'm worried that something may be up. That there's some trouble."

A knowing look crossed Sam's face. "You're worried, or Teyla's worried?"

Aware that she had caught on to him, Sheppard sat down in the chair across from her, crossing his ankles and leaning back a little. "Okay, look. Teyla is worried. And since I've known her, whatever bad feeling she's had about something has usually been right. So, if she's worried, then yeah, I'm worried."

Sam sat back in her chair and folded her hands on top of the desk. She took a moment to think about what Sheppard had said, and to weigh the options she had before her. One; she could let him go, and have things go terribly wrong. Two; he could go and stop whatever was about to happen – bad or good. Three; she could say no to him, and something bad may happen to Kanaan and his group. Four; she could say no, and Kanaan could come back safe, with a new alliance made.

In that moment, none of those choices had emerged a clear winner. Sam closed her eyes, then opened them again. Sheppard was still sitting across from her, waiting.

"John, if you go barging in there, whatever alliance Kanaan is trying to make could go south."

"Who said I would be 'barging'? Just a small team, maybe me, Ronon and Lorne. We go in quiet, find Kanaan, get a report and get out. Unless it's already gone south; and then I'll send Lorne back for help."

If there's one thing Sheppard's good at, Carter thought to herself, it's selling an idea.

Though her expression didn't change, she replied, "All right. Like you said, go in quiet. Report back every fifteen minutes."

Sheppard seemed surprised by her response. "Okay. Thank you, Colonel."

"Sam." She had a feeling that she'd never stop reminding him to call her by her first name.

"Thank you, Sam."

She nodded, and he slid out of his chair and walked out of the room, all in one seemingly fluid motion. She watched him leave, and then leaned her head back against the chair headrest. She prayed that she was making the right choice.

Notes: So, fun times, huh? Who knew Sheppard (I think it sounds cooler than just "John") would be such a great babysitter? Sheppard: *Raises hand* "I did!" Me: Shush, you!

Anyway, I wrote this story from a dream I had, after watching God-knows-how-many Atlantis episodes...and made a music video...and...watched a few more. Thanks go to my hubby, who is OK with me having a "crush" on our fav flyboy. Have fun, r&r and all that...but be warned, there is much drama interspersed with the funny...HUGZ!

PS. Sorry about the long chapters, but I just couldn't figure out a better way to split up the scenes, other than taking each chapter as I wrote them in Word (I tend to write novels, more than short stories), and putting them up here. Sheppard: "Y'know...if you think about it, you could always...I dunno...favorite it to read at your leisure. I do that with War & Peace. Put a bookmark in it..." Me: Will you just stop! And go fix that hair of yours! ANYway, enjoy!