Stargate Atlantis: The Sang Real
In ancient human legends, there has been mention of a powerful cup, blessed and pure. The Sangreal, or the Holy Grail, is a myth searched for by hundreds. But, just suppose, that the "Holy Grail" as it was called by King Arthur and his knights of the round table, was not a cup or a grail, but a human. You see, sangreal means holy grail in French but sang real means royal blood. In other words, a child born of royalty. Or rather, two royal ascended beings. Such a child was forbidden by the highest laws of both the Ancients and the Ori. Yet love can not be prevented. Lamara and Kibetan were leaders among the Ancients and as ascended beings retained their love for one another. Lamara found that somehow, against all laws of physics and the ascended, she was pregnant. Dismayed at the thought of the punishment she and the baby would receive, she went to Kibetan, lord of the Ancients. He knew that, should anyone discover the child, the Ori would demand that it be killed to prevent one side or the other from accessing its immense power. Devastated, Lamara pleaded with Kibetan to spare the child's life, to find another way. Against Kibetan's better judgment, he hid her from the others until the babe was born. It was a boy. With such power radiating from him, the couple knew it was only a matter of time before the Ori discovered the new power came from him. Lamara did not want to kill her only son, and Kibetan was deeply in love with his queen. The very fact that he was too young to wield his power gave Kibetan the inspiration he needed. They decided to put the boy's power into a vessel, rather, a sword, Excalibur. Kibetan feared that someone among the Ancients would figure out that the old sword of Excalibur held new and extraordinary power and placed Excalibur in stone. Only the sang real could pull it from its stone sheath. The boy was left as a simple human. Knowing that the Ori would never allow him to live, Lamara and Kibetan looked everywhere for someone to raise their infant son. They decided on Earth. They picked a small, uninteresting family that they believed would raise him well. Without access to the sword he would be prevented from accessing his power or it emerging and their secret was safe.
However, the sang real was not destined to live a short, boring life. He was drawn to battle and excelled while showing true strength of character and courage. Lamara and Kibetan always kept a vigil over their lost son and never gave up hope for his return. He grew into a fine young man, but became a part of a human program called the Stargate program. It used the very gates that the Ancients themselves had built to travel amongst the stars. It seemed that though his power was locked away in Excalibur, the son of Lamara and Kibetan still possessed a gene combination that was extremely close to that of the original Ancients. Thus he could access most of their technology with an ease that other humans were incapable of. Because of this ability, he was ironically asked to accompany an expedition to Atlantis, the forgotten city of the Ancients long buried underwater. He accepted. He had many close calls with death and his parents began to fear he would not live to fulfill his destiny. Luckily, however, the Earth's Stargate program managed to destroy the Ori forever. Kibetan and Lamara decided to present the Ancient Council with the news of their secret child. Outraged and mistrustful, they demanded that Lamara immediately destroy Excalibur. Kibetan forbade it. Now that the Ori were dead, he claimed, the boy would be a powerful weapon against evil. It would finally be safe to introduce him to his legacy at long last. He begged them to consider the possibility. It took two human years before the Council decided. Lamara and Kibetan were permitted to contact their son and present him with Excalibur. Lamara was overjoyed, but Kibetan warned her that their son would not take lightly to being told of the origin of his birth. They decided to wait until an opportune moment to show him the truth.
* * *
"Why did you have to touch that stupid Wraith computer, Rodney?" I managed to say through the dust of the building's collapse above us. "What is it with you and touching stuff?"
"I didn't know it was booby-trapped, Sheppard." Rodney McKay said after a minute of coughing. He was supposed to be a computer genius with Ancient technology, but he had just triggered an explosion that had brought a building on top of us. Amazingly, the room we were in was still mainly intact.
"Obviously." I answered sarcastically. He was part of my team. "Why is it that every time something good happens, we get struck by some other disaster?"
"John?" Ronan Dex started to wake up. He had been knocked unconscious by a falling beam. I had managed to move the beam off of him, but he wasn't looking good.
"Hey, Ronan. You okay?" I knelt to check him out. Rodney started looking around our room for options. "I think you broke some ribs and you probably have a concussion. I hope you don't have internal bleeding."
"Col. Sheppard, you better look at this." McKay called out from the doorway.
"What is it?" I asked as I walked over. Then I stopped abruptly. The doorway should have shown a dusty hallway or at least wreckage from the collapse such as ceiling beams or such. Instead, our room was connected to a brightly lit hallway that looked very familiar. "No way. This is not real."
"Do you know where it is?" McKay asked. I stared at the scene before us and nodded.
"It's the hallway of the house where I grew up." I said in disbelief. McKay looked over at me, startled.
"You've got to be kidding." McKay said. I shrugged. "Who would be watching you closely enough to know that?"
"I have no idea." I muttered as I peered around the door. "No one seems to be here. If this is an accurate replication of my old house, there should be a first aid kit in the kitchen. Help me lift Ronan and get him downstairs."
"Oh, man, you know I'm not very good at lifting stuff. He's heavy." McKay complained as usual.
"Stop whining, McKay, and pick up his other arm." I ordered. He grabbed Ronan's left arm while I took his right and we headed through the door. We managed to make it down the stairs with Ronan. "Let's set him on the couch in the living room."
"Is it just me or is this place really creepy?" McKay asked as we lowered Ronan down. I shrugged.
"Come on. I think the kit's in the kitchen." I led the way into the very familiar kitchen of my youth. "All right, it should be in this cabinet."
"Um, Sheppard, you better look at this." McKay said again.
"What now?" I asked as I searched the cabinets. Whoever had replicated my house hadn't gone as far as the insides of them. "There's nothing here."
"Look!" McKay called urgently. I walked up to the window. In the backyard stood a boulder with a sword stuck in it. The sword's pommel was golden and set with brilliant sparkling stones. "Did you have a sword in a stone in your backyard?"
"No. Wait here. I'll check it out." I went out the backdoor and up the path to the stone. As I got closer to the sword, I could see that the hilt's stones were a wild variety of colors. There had to be at least one of every color. Unthinking, I reached up to touch it. Before I could reach it, a man appeared out of nowhere.
"How did you get here? They said they would wait!" He looked shocked and very mad. I backed up, confused.
"Who are you talking about?" I asked guardedly.
"So you don't know. In any case, I'm not telling you any names. That would just let them know where you are." He continued to talk, but I was distracted by McKay's startled face at the backdoor. After that last sentence he disappeared into the house. I could only hope he knew a way out of this. The guy's sudden appearance made me think that he couldn't be hurt by my P-90. "I told them that you were not to come here, but obviously they didn't listen. I think I'll kill you and end this silly debate."
"What?! What did I do?" I asked, startled. I backed up even more. He advanced and raised his hand. A sword much plainer than the one in the stone appeared. I gulped and tried to look for a way out.
"Fool, it's not what you've done, it's who you are." He raised his sword menacingly.
"Wait!" McKay cried out. Both the man and I looked at him in surprise. He held a letter in his hand. "Lamara! Kibetan!"
"No!" The man cried out. He started to finish his swing but before he could move, there were two brilliant flashes of light.
"How dare you come here uninvited! What do you think you are doing, Parath? Are you planning to kill him?" The woman's eyes flashed in anger. The man's face looked equally as outraged.
"Parath, as lord of the Ancients I am well within my rights to banish you to a human existence right now. You knew the Council's decision. Now it is your decision, life in human exile or banishment to the outer edges of our dimension and a watcher to make sure you don't try to pull a stunt like this again. Choose." The man was an Ancient lord! What was going on, I wondered.
"You know what I choose." Parath glared at me, then reluctantly withdrew his sword and sheathed it. I sighed in relief. The lord briefly raised a hand and Parath disappeared.
"Now, about you. We weren't expecting you here. How did you get here?" The lord turned toward me. I suddenly felt very worried.
"Sir, I didn't mean to intrude, but my team and I were in a building collapse. When we opened a door, all we could see was the upstairs hallway here." I tried to explain. I suddenly remembered Ronan. "Oh! A friend of mine is pretty badly hurt. We put him in the living room."
"Oh, my!" The woman immediately raised her hand and we appeared in the living room. Rodney, who had been silently observing the pair, yelled.
"Ahh. What the ..,?" Rodney looked freaked. The woman ignored him and knelt by Ronan's side. She raised her hands and a soft blue glow shone over his chest. After a minute of this, Ronan began to stir.
"What's going on? Who are you?" Ronan asked groggily. The lady stood.
"I healed you. My name is Lamara and this is my husband Kibetan, lord of the ancients." Lamara answered. Ronan sat up, not quite impressed.
"Ancients have marriages? That's kind of weird. Of course, I didn't know the got mail either." Rodney said. So that's how he knew the Ancients' names.
"Rodney, I wouldn't insult the nice couple who are powerful enough to erase us from time." I muttered. He looked ashamed at least. Kibetan laughed.
"Why would we do that?" He asked.
"Exactly. You never do anything. You could completely destroy the Wraith and save us humans, but you don't. You watch and don't do anything." Ronan accused. "You could have saved Sateda."
"I know you were Satedan. I am truly sorry. I may be the lord of the Ancients, but I must answer to the Council. They are very stubborn. Besides, Lamara and I were being very careful to not raise suspicion. We had inadvertently created a situation that, if discovered would lead to severe punishment, maybe even being forced to descend from this plane." Kibetan apologized.
"If you don't mind my asking, what did you do?" I asked as we all sat down.
"It's okay. Certain circumstances have allowed us to reveal our secret to the Council and they have approved, grudgingly. You see, Lamara and I had a son while we were ascended. It may seem like a joyous occasion, but such a child is forbidden. The Ori would have demanded that we kill the child before he could grow into his immense power." Kibetan began to explain. He told us the story of his son and the boy's power. When they began to tell us about the sword in the stone, I got a really weird feeling.
"What did you name your son?" McKay asked after he finished. Lamara looked at us with a smile and answered for her husband.
"We knew that we couldn't keep our son, so we sent him to live with a human family on Earth. They named him." Lamara looked at me while she said this. My mind reeled as realization dawned. I suddenly connected what Parath had said and the fact that this house looked like mine. "His name is …"
"John Sheppard." I finished quietly. Ronan and McKay looked at me in shock. Kibetan nodded. I took a second look at the two Ancients, noticing slight similarities. Kibetan's hair, though brown was a dead ringer for my somewhat crazy style, while Lamara's hair had the same deep black coloring. Her eyes were green and his eyes a deep brown that, if combined, could produce my shade of hazel. Lamara's eyes even had a similar shape, and I resembled Kibetan in my lean yet muscular form. The resemblance was too much to be coincidence.
"Whoa! What? How?" McKay sputtered. Ronan just looked puzzled.
"My parents told me when I was seven that I was adopted. I had figured it out through the fact that they were both light-haired and my hair is black. They said they never knew who my birth-parents were. I thought they were joking when they said I was a gift from the gods." I told them in shock. Lamara nodded.
"We couldn't contact you for fear that the Ori would find out who you were. We were always watching over you, though." She responded. I got up.
"I have to think." I walked out of the room and out into the backyard. 'How am I supposed to deal with this? I just got through a trip to 48,000 years into the future and stayed 700 years in a stasis pod waiting to get back so I could save Teyla. Now that building is wrecked and we have no idea where she is. And at the same time, I find out my birth-parents are a couple of ascended beings.' I mused. I continued out loud. "For all I know, they'll want me to stay here and watch the Pegasus galaxy get destroyed by Michael."
"Actually, we only wanted you to know." Lamara spoke up from behind me, making me jump. She smiled hopefully. "You are allowed to choose. And I doubt that anyone, even the entire Ancient Council, could make you stay here once you draw that sword. You are also human enough to not be messed with by the others unprovoked. They have already agreed to allow you to draw the sword. Since the power would destroy a normal human, you will have to carry the sword and allow the power to slowly return to you. But you would be able to find your friend by using the sword."
"Really?" This was starting to look better. I could save Teyla with this sword. My mind latched onto the idea. No matter what cost, if it helped me save my friends, I was willing to at least try. I'd always had a bad time with leaving people behind enemy lines. "If it helps me save Teyla and defeat Michael I'll be forever grateful. I will try to pull the sword out."
"I will go get Kibetan." She smiled. I nodded and she disappeared. I went back to examining the sword. It had a sapphire and a ruby on the guard ends. They were major gems, but the pommel bore a larger purple-colored gem. The rest of the hilt was decorated with emeralds, pearls, diamonds, and any other colored gems you could think of. The sword itself looked quite impressive. From what I could see of the blade, it was razor sharp and made of a extremely shiny metal. I turned around as Lamara, Kibetan, and my team walked up.
"So you're going to do it, huh?" Ronan asked.
"If it helps get Teyla back, I'll do it." I answered. McKay nodded. I turned back to the sword.
"It is your legacy." Kibetan told me. "The sapphire and ruby on the guard are representative of Lamara and I, respectively. The purple diamond signifies the combination of our powers to become yours."
"Yeah." Slowly, I reached up to touch the sword. I felt as if the eyes of the universe were on me as I gripped the handle. The hilt fit my hand perfectly and the blade came up easily as I pulled. My hair stood on end as I felt the power flow through me.
"All hail the sang real, son of the Ancients, lord of lords!" I heard a chorus of voices shout as the blade left the stone. Then the yard went silent.
"Wow, that was cool." McKay said, eyes wide. I reached up and smoothed my erratic hair down. I could feel the sword's power fizzing up my arm. I lifted Excalibur and looked at the blade.
"What metal is this?" I asked. Kibetan touched the sword.
"It's dragon-forged steel. It is much stronger than normal steel and will never break or chip." He answered. "With your power in it, it can probably cut through diamonds."
"What do you mean by dragons?" McKay looked intrigued.
"For thousands of your years, there have been dragons walking the earth in mortal bodies. Their souls are reincarnated when they are killed, which is seldom. They also do not age." Kibetan responded patiently. He then pulled out a sheath covered in intricate designs and laced with gold and silver. "Here is Excalibur's sheath."
"Cool. Now how do I use Excalibur to rescue Teyla?" I was impatient to get to her. She had been in enemy hands too long already. I tucked the sword in to its sheath and buckled onto my belt.
"Excalibur is simply a vessel of your own innate power as our son. Just concentrate and will it to happen. If you need to, in the beginning, you can use the sword as a normal sword to help you control the power coming out of it. There are some abilities that require teaching, but for now you can handle the basics. We will look in on possibilities." Lamara explained. "As a warning, though, you might not want to teleport your friends anywhere for the first month. Your power is unsteady as it is because of your separation, and to send other people any distance might be messy. You might not want to risk losing McKay's head or Ronan's leg."
"Right, got it. No teleporting." I said, slightly sarcastic. This had been an unbelievable day.
"How can we get there?" McKay asked curiously.
"The same way you got here. The portal upstairs was originally made to lead wherever John was at the time. If you will it, John, it can take you wherever you need to go. It is also the easiest way for you to get back here in a hurry. Just say where you need to go, in your case, Michael's ship carrying Teyla, and it will get you at least on the ship. It works better if you have a specific room or if you have been there before, but it will get you in the general area." Lamara pointed upstairs as she talked.
"Thank you for your help." I shook my "father's" hand and put my hand on Lamara's shoulder. She smiled a very sweet, sad smile, then hugged me.
"It is the least we could do. We have a lot to catch up on. Come back whenever you need." Kibetan offered. I nodded and my team and I walked back into the house and up the stairs. We found ourselves facing the same building collapse through the door to "my room." I reached out and closed the door.
"Alright, we need the Wraith hybrid Michael's hive ship where he is holding Teyla." I grabbed the doorknob and concentrated. Then I opened the door. It now showed a room filled with the usual Wraith décor. "Success!"
"This is one cool door or portal or whatever." McKay was touching the door in curiosity. I walked in.
"Come on. Teyla may need us." I motioned him in. He and Ronan stepped through and the doorway shut, revealing a Wraith webbing door. The room we had walked into was a Wraith holding cell.
"Great door. It put us right into a cell." Ronan said angrily.
"Well, Lamara did say that the door wasn't exact. It did get us on a Wraith ship. And I do have a supposedly super-sharp sword." I unsheathed Excalibur. It was unusually feather light and I was able to lift it in one hand. I gave it an experimental twirl to get the feel of having a sword, then raised it and made a swift diagonal cut across the door and down. McKay walked up to the door and pushed the webbing back. Ronan climbed out. I stayed behind. "Look, as soon as you run into the hybrids they'll sound the alarm. I'm going to use this sword to try and locate Teyla and get to her so Michael can't do anything before you get there."
"You sure you can control that thing?" McKay asked. I shrugged and he nodded. He followed Ronan. "Find her, Colonel."
"Got it." I said as they went down the corridor. After they were around the corner, I raised the sword. On a flash on insight, I turned the sword around and put the point an inch into the floor to give me a connection to the ship. I slowly forced the fizzing power down through the sword and spread it throughout the ship, searching for any sign of Teyla. It took a couple of minutes, but I managed to locate her in a sickening form of a laboratory. Angry, I thought very quickly. Surely when Lamara had said no teleporting friends she didn't mean me alone. I pulled all but a little thread of my power back and concentrated on getting to her location. I felt a sharp tug and I closed my eyes as a light flashed around me. When I opened my eyes I was in the room.
"Colonel Sheppard? John?" Teyla asked groggily. She didn't look so good. I pulled the sword up and sheathed it. As an afterthought, I pulled a little power out and willed the sword to change shape. I now had a gleaming golden pen on my belt. I hurried over to the table where she lay and undid her bindings. I reached down and lifted her, groaning under her added weight.
"Put her down." A cold voice ordered me. I turned to Michael.
"Why would I do that?" I asked. I did shift her so that I could reach my "pen." "You wouldn't want to hit Teyla and hurt her baby would you?"
"Fool. That babe will change the galaxy." Michael fumed. "And I believe that my people are fast enough to catch her after we shoot you."
"Right. Even you aren't fast enough." I said. As a precaution, I did set her down. I immediately felt an impact on my shoulder. The Wraith stunner stung a little, but didn't knock me unconscious. "Your weapons no longer work on me. You see, I'm something new. And I'm here to take Teyla back."
"How?" Michael asked arrogantly. I uncapped my "pen" and pointed it at him. "With your pen?"
"Well, it's not exactly a pen." I willed Excalibur back into its original shape. "It's a sword."
"A sword? How is that possible?" Michael looked very confused. I shrugged.
"Good pedigree?" I joked. I shifted my power into what I hoped was a stunner and sent a pulse of it into the sword. Quickly I swung Excalibur in a half-circle and released the pulse. Instantly the hybrid Athosians collapsed. I brought my sword back around to Michael. He glared at me.
"If I can't have that child, no one will." Before I could react he used a stolen pistol to shoot Teyla in the leg. "Now if I remember correctly, I just shot her in a major artery. That means she'll die unless you stop the bleeding soon. So the choice is yours, fight me and she dies or save your friend. Choose."
"Oh this is just great!" Of course I went over to Teyla. I laid my sword down and put pressure on her wound. Michael escaped. While I was fumbling with a bandage the others arrived.
"Oh God, Sheppard, she's bleeding! What happened?" McKay asked.
""Michael happened." I said bluntly.
" Can't you use the sword?" Ronan asked. I shrugged.
"I don't know how to heal with a sword. I might cut her more or burn her up if I try." I answered worriedly.
"Try calling Lamara and Kibetan. They did say they were always watching over you." McKay suggested. I thought quickly.
"Alright. Lamara! Kibetan! I need your help, please." I called out, feeling a little foolish. A second went by and then there were two flashes of light, one of blue and one of red.
"What's wrong? Oh my!" Lamara exclaimed as she saw Teyla's wound.
"Can I heal her? I mean can you show me how?" I asked quickly. She looked thoughtful.
"Regular healing takes knowledge of the human body. Intricate knowledge. I don't think we have time to teach you advanced anatomy, so…" Lamara said.
"Wait. There may be a way." Kibetan said suddenly. "Look, your blood has natural healing properties. As long as you concentrate, your blood can fix most of your injuries. For someone else, you need to want to heal them. Your blood may not work on everything with other people, but she has merely been shot. If you put about a drop or two in her system, it should fix her up without harming her."
"My blood can do that?" I was shocked. He nodded confidently. I picked Excalibur up and quickly cut my thumb on it. Before my "accelerated healing" blood could patch the wound, I dripped two drops. As second or two after I pressed the sides of my thumb together and concentrated, they seemed to fuse and I stopped bleeding. After I made sure I wasn't still dripping, I looked at Teyla's leg. It was slightly moving. Suddenly, the leg healed. "Wow, I guess it can."
"The Wraith hybrid has tampered with the child's DNA. He has made it more Wraith than human. If it is not corrected, the child could be controlled or corrupted by another Wraith." Lamara was looking at Teyla's pregnant stomach. I started as I realized that she was looking right into her DNA. "If you help me, I can change it back."
"Why do you need me?" I asked, startled.
"I have the skill and knowledge to correct one or one hundred DNA strands, but to do the entire baby would take a lot of power and time. You, on the other hand, have the power of ten thousand supernovas all wrapped up in your sword. I will do one strand and then you can spread the change throughout the child." Lamara explained.
"If you think I can." I said doubtfully.
"Ten thousand supernovas?!" McKay's eyes were bugging out. "That's about a million ZPMs!"
"That's a lot." Ronan responded dryly.
"Are you kidding? That's unbelievable." McKay was freaking out. I was impressed too.
"I will show you how." Lamara put one hand on Teyla's stomach and offered the other to me. I took her hand and we were instantly inside of Teyla's baby. All around us were gigantic cells Lamara stepped forward and we went inside a cell. Once we were inside, Lamara located the nucleus and began to repair the DNA. I watched in fascination. I could tell the difference between Wraith DNA and human DNA by the greenish color of the Wraith DNA. Once Lamara was done she turned to me. "Alright, now you need to spread the change. Just let your power guide you."
"There's still a lot of Wraith DNA." I pointed out. Lamara nodded.
"I know, but that is his normal DNA. Because or the combination of Teyla, who has Wraith DNA, and Kieran, who is called by the Athosians Wraith-sensitive, the child has a large amount of Wraith DNA. We could change it, but then the child would no longer be theirs. I don't think we should do that without Teyla's permission." She explained.
"Oh. Okay, we'll leave it like that." I agreed. Grabbing Excalibur, I swung the sword in an X-pattern. When the speed felt right I sent my power fizzing out and let it hit the DNA strand. When I was pretty sure it understood what I wanted, I sent more power and pushed it out into the rest of the baby, forcing the other strands to change. "Did I do it right?"
"Let me see." Lamara looked around. We backed up until we could see the entire baby. "Good, you got it all. Very nice."
"Thanks." I smiled in relief. We backed up another step and we were outside Teyla again. She was stirring sleepily.
"Is she clean?" Kibetan asked.
"Yes. About the Athosians… I think we can handle them. Their DNA is already completely grown so they should be easier." Lamara motioned at the stunned hybrids. Kibetan agreed and they brought their hands together and they were surrounded by a swirling blue and red light. The light expanded and they disappeared. All that remained was a faint call from Lamara. "We'll leave the explaining to you."
"Thanks." I said quietly. Before I had to answer any questions, I turned Excalibur back into a pen and put the "cap" on. I looked over the hybrids and noticed a slow melting of their Wraith features. Their bodies were returning to normal.
"John, what has happened?" Teyla was awake. She sat up and looked around. "My people! They are normal Athosians again. What happened?"
"It's a really long story that I'm going to have to tell you later. Ronan, where's Michael?" I asked. He looked very angry.
"That parasite escaped. I think he grabbed a dart out of here. Couldn't you stun him too?" Ronan glared daggers.
"I thought he would be useful in turning the hybrids back. I didn't know we didn't need him." I tried to explain. One by one the Athosians woke up. Kieran ran to Teyla's side and began to furiously ask questions. I interrupted him and informed them all that we had managed to turn them back to human and that we needed to get back to Atlantis. Teyla immediately volunteered to use her Wraith connection to take the ship back. She could interface with Wraith technology using her mind much like I could with Ancient tech. It turns out we were in the neighborhood and it only took a few hours to get home.
"John, we're entering our solar system now. I am broadcasting a call on all human frequencies so the Dedalus won't shoot at us." Teyla told me. I grinned in anticipation.
"Carter's going to freak when we come back from the dead with a Wraith hive ship. Plus, there are other facts that she needs to be aware of." I was going to enjoy the shock on her face. Carter was the leader of our expedition and my boss/counterpart. I was the military commander and she was the "leader" leader.
"You're going to tell her everything? What about me?" Teyla asked.
"Don't worry, I'll tell you both. Can you set us down on the mainland?" I reassured her easily. I didn't even know if she would believe me.
"Yes, Col. I think I can manage it. By the way, Col. Carter is demanding to know why a Wraith hive ship is here. Would you like to speak with her?" Teyla sounded amused as well.
"Oh sure, why not?" I answered leisurely. Instantly, Col. Samantha Carter's face filled the view screen.
"Col. Sheppard, what are you doing? Care to explain the Wraith hive ship? You're lucky we didn't blow you up while you were en route. You nearly gave us a heart attack, waltzing up in the enemy's ship. For all we knew, you were Michael himself coming to destroy us." Carter was livid and happy at the same time. I inwardly laughed.
"We're fine, Col. We also saved Teyla and the Athosians. Michael did get away, but there's a lot to tell you. Permission to land? And can you send a Puddlejumper or two?" I tried to calm her down. A Puddlejumper is the name I coined the Atlantis space ships. She threw up her hands.
"You better explain everything. Go ahead and land, the jumpers are on the way." She raised her eyebrows. "And Sheppard, it's good to have you back."
"It's good to be back." She smiled and the screen shut off.
"Col., we're landing. There are three jumpers inbound." Teyla informed us a few minutes later.
"All right. Once we've landed, shut her down and get your people to the jumpers." I ordered. She nodded. I felt a slight bump as we set down. Teyla released the controls. Kieran was instantly at her side. He did seem apologetic. It wasn't his fault he was susceptible to Michael's mind control. Kieran escorted Teyla out of the ship. We all climbed aboard one of the jumpers for the short trip to Atlantis. As expected, Carter was waiting.
"Now tell me what is going on. The rest of the "rescue" team got back an hour ago claiming that McKay blew up the building and buried all of you alive." She asked. I waited for her to finish.
"If I may ask, can we go somewhere more private? Teyla, too." I answered her with a question.
"Teyla? I want her checked out by a medical team immediately." Carter demanded.
"Trust me, she and her baby are probably the healthiest people in Atlantis. Now if you want to know what happened, follow me." I walked toward my rooms. Noting McKay's puzzled stare, I smiled. He rolled his eyes and followed. I heard muffled footsteps as Carter caught up with us.
"I'm not going to ask why you've decided you're in charge, but where are we going?" Sam asked. I looked at her mysteriously. As we approached the door to my quarters, I paused to allow Teyla to catch up. As soon as we were all together, I unclipped my "pen" from my belt. Without changing it back to sword form, I summoned a bit of power and called the portal to my quarters' door. I passed the pen across the crystals which were our version of a doorknob. The door slid open, but instead of my quarters, the door opened on the same hallway as before. Carter's eyes got wide.
"What?!" She exclaimed, reaching out to feel the doorway. Teyla stood there looking at the hallway. I motioned them all in.
"Did I ever tell you I'm adopted?" I asked nonchalantly. Carter, to my surprise, nodded.
"No, but I've read your file, especially the extended version." She stated dryly. I should have realized that the leader of the Atlantis expedition would read the files of everyone associated with it. And, as a former member of Earth's SG-1, she had clearance.
"Well, I am. I'm going to introduce you to my birth parents. Trust me you'll want to meet them. McKay just about freaked when he found out." I said smugly. Already I was getting more and more used to ascended parents. There were a lot worse birth parents to have and they seemed decent. At least they hadn't made me stay.
"Well they aren't exactly normal parents." McKay defended himself. "By the way, Col. Carter, that's how we got out of the building collapse. That door just showed up out of nowhere. Cool, huh?"
"It's fascinating. How does it do that?" She asked, intrigued. McKay started to tell her, but I silenced him with a glare. It was my secret to tell. Just then, we reached the living room. I told them to make themselves comfortable on the couch. Then I went to find Lamara and Kibetan. I went out the back door.
"Hello." I looked down at the voice. It was coming from a wolf at my feet. It was almost all white with red and orange streaks and a blonde tinge.
"Hi, who are you? And how do you talk?" I asked. The wolf got up.
"Well, technically all animals speak. Humans just can't understand them. I, however, am not actually a wolf. My name is Solarion; you can call me Sol. You're the sang real, aren't you?" As he looked up at me, I noticed a startling fact. His eyes were gold.
"Yes. How do you know?" I answered truthfully.
"You're here for one thing. And I can see your power. Who are the humans you brought with you?" He said matter-of-factly.
"People I wanted to introduce to my parents." I responded. He nodded, an odd thing to see a wolf doing.
"Well, I'll tell them you're here. I am supposed to hang around you for a while it seems. I'm your guardian until you master that sword of yours." He sighed. "You know, you could contact them yourself, telepathically."
"I didn't know I could do it telepathically, but I figured they might be here." I said apologetically.
"They got called away to a Council meeting. In fact, they're delivering a report on you." He told me. "They'll be here in a sec."
"Thank you." I replied. The wolf dipped his head in a bow. "So you have to follow me around?"
"Yes. Lamara is concerned about the rebel ascended trying to attack you. Also, there may or may not be a group of Ori that escaped Merlin's weapon. So I'm here to defend you." His explanation ended just as Lamara and Kibetan arrived.
"Hello, John, Solarion. What's up?" Kibetan said as he approached. I shook his hand.
"I need to tell the leader of the Atlantis expedition and my
last team member who I am. I thought you could help explain. Plus, I know my boss would love to meet you." I grinned.
"Of course we'll meet your friends. I would be honored to meet Samantha Carter. She and the rest of Earth's SG-1 are well known in the ascended world. They destroyed the Ori threat." Lamara answered. "I have always thought that she must be a very interesting woman. If only the Council would approve human interactions. They were a little put out that we told McKay and Ronan about us and you. We had to remind them that you would tell them anyway. They backed down. Until they find out exactly how strong you are, they won't challenge us."
"Well, okay. Come on, they're in the living room. Want to come, Sol?" I offered.
"Sure." Sol followed us into the living room. When Carter noticed the robes, she stood up.
"John? Are these your birth parents?" She sounded suspicious.
"Yes. Col. Samantha Carter meet Lamara, my mother, and Kibetan, my father and lord of the ascended Ancients. Lamara, Kibetan, this is Col. Carter and Teyla Emmagen, leader of the Athosians. You met before." I introduced them. "You see, Teyla, Lamara is the one who corrected your baby's DNA. Kibetan told me how to fix a gunshot wound in your leg."
"How?" Carter was very confused. Kibetan jumped in with the story of my birth, powers, raising on Earth, and the subsequent drawing of Excalibur. This startled Carter. "What sword is he talking about?"
"This one." I held out my pen. Noting the confusion, I pulled Excalibur and its sheath back into their original forms. Now I had a sheathed sword sitting in my hand.
"Very covert. I like it." Kibetan nodded in approval.
"Wow." Carter definitely seemed shocked. I grinned at her and Teyla.
"Show-off." McKay muttered.
"I agree." Sol chipped in, prompting another round of exclamations and explanations. "I'm a staranian. Staranians are the souls and spirits of stars or suns. In fact, I'm Earth's sun. You call me Sol, but my full name is Solarion. Hi."
"Hi." Col. Carter seemed at a loss for words. She finally shook her head and recovered. "What is your connection to Sheppard?"
"I'm to be his guide. You know, teach what he can do, stuff like that. Kibetan asked the Staranian council to provide a suitable teacher for his son. As Earth's sun I was the natural choice. Staranians have natural abilities that rival the Ancients' in variety though slightly weaker in strength. Of course our abilities are nothing compared to the power possessed by Colonel Sheppard, but I may still provide a basic level of instruction for him. I am also a protector should any remnants of the Ori arise and attempt to destroy him to tip the balance again in their favor." Sol licked his lips and sat. It felt very weird talking to a wolf. Admittedly, we had had several encounters that were strange here in the Pegasus galaxy, but this seemed surreal. The furnishings of the house that so closely resembled those of my childhood home added to the strange picture.
"We didn't get all the Ori?" Sam asked him, concerned. He shrugged.
"The original Ori, yes. Adria, well she's being kept busy by Morgan Le Fay. The Priors, well some are still fighting in the Ori's name. Some have managed to reverse the Ark of Truth's influence. Then it's only a matter of time until one of them manages to ascend and start the cycle over again. The people of the Celeste galaxy and of Avalon are easily swayed by showy examples of power. There could be a repeat of the Ori. And Lamara and I are concerned for John's safety. So Sol has agreed to stay with him. I assume that you will allow him to have, however intelligent, "pets"?" Kibetan answered for Sol. I looked at Sam as she considered her options.
"As long as Sol does not interfere with Atlantis operations or missions in his desire to protect Col. Sheppard. " Carter decided. "We can wait until his next mission to 'find' him. Col. Sheppard, you can claim that a family gave him to you as a present. I'll protest and you can wear me down. You could even claim that he's skilled at hunting Wraith or finding people. You know, as a reason to keep him with you on missions."
"Got it." I agreed with Carter's plan to keep Sol.
"I'm sure I can stay out of everyone's way." Sol assured us.
"All right." Carter gave her permission. "But no talking around people who don't know you can, got it?"
"Yes, ma'am." Sol replied, slightly pert. She glanced at him then smiled.
"Well Sheppard, I have to admit, when you do something, you definitely DO it. Take finding your birth parents. Other people petition the courts to unseal the adoption papers. You accidentally walked through a portal to where you're ascended parents gave you both a sword containing immense power and your very first "pet". No offense, Sol." Carter shook her head.
"None taken." Sol huffed a dog-like laugh.
"Thanks, I think." I said to Carter. Though I had expected her to be slightly more disbelieving, it was only natural that she, as a former member of SG-1 who had been traveling through the Stargates almost from the beginning, be used to unnatural and mysterious occurrences. You had to be flexible to be in this type of job. Anything could happen in the Pegasus galaxy.
"Well, this is great and all, but we probably need to get back to Atlantis soon. Someone's bound to miss us, all of us." McKay interrupted our plotting. Carter stood, dusting her hands. "I don't want Zelenka messing with the power systems. He'll blow something up."
"Right. Kibetan, Lamara, thank you for your hospitality, but we must go. Thank you for allowing Col. Sheppard stay with the Atlantis expedition. I realize how much it means to allow your estranged 'son' to return to his life of danger." Carter bid them good-bye. I fidgeted under the attention she drew to me and waited for the others to make their good-byes.
"Thank you for the latitude you give John." Lamara glanced over at Kibetan and gave him a creepily familiar and pointed look. "I can't imagine where he gets such a reckless and stubborn attitude."
"Really? A reckless Ancient? I'm surprised Doctor Jackson didn't mention you. I think he would of liked you." Carter bit back a chuckle at Lamara's description of my habits.
"Dr. Jackson was a great addition to our society, but, due to our secretive ways, we could not converse with him openly. We did not want to provoke the others into searching our activities. It would have been disastrous. Speaking of memories, I do need to do something for you, Col. Sheppard." Kibetan raised a hand and, receiving my hesitant permission, touched my forehead. Instantly, I was aware of a deep feeling of unlocking within my mind. Several memories were suddenly accessible again. In one, I was five years old and, having been quite rambunctious and troublesome, lost in the woods with a sprained ankle. As I struggled along, I met the now familiar Lamara.
* * *
"Hello." The past version of Lamara smiled down at the black-haired child. He fidgeted nervously under her kind and knowing gaze.. "My name is Lamara, what is yours?"
"John." The past me answered. He studied the woman cautiously. "Where'd you come from?"
"Oh, I saw you wander into this forest, and when I didn't see you come out I figured something was wrong. So I followed you in. Can I see your ankle.? I know a little first aid." Lamara offered. I seemed to consider this very carefully.
"But how'd you find me? I don't even know where I am." Sure enough, even as a child I was stubborn. Lamara smiled kindly.
"It's O.K. You're really close to my house." As the younger me looked up, he missed the silent blur as the forest changed. Now there was a house visible among the woods. His eyes widened.
"Oh." Slowly he held out his red foot and allowed the woman to examine it. She touched it briefly and a slight turquoise light flickered around her hands. Instantly the boy relaxed and yawned. His eyes drooped and the memory-vision blurred. The last thing visible was Lamara's hand as she touched the sleeping boy's forehead.
"Sleep, my son, I will take you home." The woman assured me.
* * *
"That was you!" I exclaimed, pointing at Lamara and blinking the memories away. "Why didn't I recognize you earlier?"
"Kibetan just unlocked the memories. I wanted you to realize that we were always watching over you, whether you remembered us or not. Fortunately, you've been quite resourceful and haven't needed rescuing quite as often as we feared. Each time we did, though, we hid your memories away to prevent you telling your parents about the unusual "guardian angels" you had." Lamara explained. Noting the confused expressions on my team members faces I waved them upstairs. If I decided to tell them, I would, but some things need to be private, especially the memory of Kibetan helping me in the desert of Afghanistan after being shot down and then later the somewhat fortuitous arrival of a SEAL team that rescued me was led down by a timely gust of wind. They had landed right on top of the P.O.W. hospital where I'd been left after being captured and unsuccessfully interrogated. It hadn't been mere chance that the SEAL team missed their objective to rescue me from that hellhole. I had a feeling that were a lot more times that Kibetan and Lamara had secretly changed the outcome of events to prevent serious injury or death on my part.
"Thank you for watching out for me." I responded after checking to make sure that my friends weren't listening. "And I understand what you went through. Not the whole son thing, I'm not a parent, but I understand what it's like to be stopped by rules and regulations when all you want to do is protect those you care about."
"Yes, you do. Lamara and I certainly chose well when we left you with the humans." Kibetan's half-smile was eerily familiar.
"About that, am I human?" I asked worriedly. They considered this carefully.
"John, when we hid your power in Excalibur, we made sure you were in a human body. It wouldn't do for a pure Ancient to be walking around; it was bound to attract the others. We made most of your actual Ancient genes were dormant, though you did retain quite a few. Enough of them remained active to lead you to Atlantis and give you an unparalleled control over our technology. With the drawing of Excalibur, that's changed. You can't deny the fact you are our son. You should be able to appear human to your primitive machines, but those dormant genes are activated. Of course, neither race, human or Ancient, relies on genetic memory, so you're still you. You just have a new genetic make-up." Lamara explained. I thought it over. I didn't feel any different. And I didn't have any freaky memories or some 'past life' running around. Admittedly, it wasn't the worst thing to happen in the Pegasus galaxy; the Iratus bug and retrovirus incidents still held the top of that list.
"Oh. Well, at least I'm not turning blue and scaly. That's a relief." I joked around, my usual reaction to startling news. "You do realize, though, that Excalibur wasn't the sword in the stone of Arthurian legend? Arthur got Excalibur from the Lady in the Lake and then he gave it back to her. Supposedly."
"Who do you think was the Lady in the Lake?" Lamara lifted an eyebrow. "And of course the other Ancients never thought it odd that we kept the sword in the stone out of a reminder of Arthur. By the way, he is a cousin of yours. He's the son of the ascended you call Morgan Le Fay, my sister. he wasn't a full-blooded Ancient like you, but he was half. To our knowledge, you are one of a kind."
"Wow, cool family. How many half-Ancient kids are out there anyway?" I asked, curious.
"There aren't many. Those who do have relations with humans rarely progress to that degree. But it's probably safe to say that your friend General O'Neill had an Ancient ancestor quite recently by the fact his gene is still so strong and he can absorb the Ancient library. Half-Ancients do not possess the powers that full Ascended and you do. They normally just get a very strong gene combination. Of course, Arthur may have had some self-healing, but all in all, it is unusual for any child to receive any powers. Their human bodies wouldn't be able to handle it." Kibetan answered.
"Okay." I glanced at my watch. "I'm sorry, but I need to get back to Atlantis."
"That's fine, John. We'll be here if you need us." Lamara took Kibetan's hand and they walked back to kitchen while I climbed the stairs. I glanced down the hall at the white form standing in front of the door-portal.
"Hi, Sol. What's up?" I walked up the wolf-Staranian. He seemed like he was waiting for me. "I figured you'd be off somewhere until I can introduce you to Atlantis. Officially, I mean."
"I needed to speak with you, Sheppard. I am being called to a council meeting. Nothing about you, but the Staranian Council is just as serious as the Ancient one. Something unusual must be happening. Do not worry, I won't be long." Sol stood and shook him self. "Be careful."
"I will." I told him. He nodded and disappeared. Slightly shocked at the abrupt departure, I walked through the portal to Atlantis. When I glanced back at my door, it slid shut and became a standard Lantean door. I shrugged and continued walking towards the control room. Once there I noticed an active wormhole. Our weekly check-in was today. I also found an annoyed Carter who was debating with someone through the video link to the SGC. She finally threw up her hands in exasperation and said something that appeared to be an emphatic 'FINE.' I winced at her anger. "What's up?"
"Sheppard, you're here! Good, I need you to grab your stuff. We need to gate back to Earth. The IOA and General Landry are expecting our annual yearly debriefing. Evidently, you've been conveniently out of reach for the last two times. You're overdue. And they want the senior staff to accompany us. That includes the rest of SG-1 and Dr. Keller. Apparently taking the entire senior staff away from Atlantis is okay in the IOA's book. Luckily, Earth still has a functioning ZPM, so we aren't forced to come back via the Deadalus. To save the effort of dialing, we're keeping the wormhole open. We've all got about ten minutes to grab enough stuff for at least a week or two. You better start moving." Carter was livid, but, thankfully, I wasn't on the receiving end of that fury this time. I nodded sharply. Even if there was a complication with Atlantis, he doubted that a Stargate would prevent him from returning instantly. By now he had gauged the power in Excalibur -his power- and found that it was a pretty daunting force.
"I'm on my way. Have you told the others?" I asked. She shook her head.
"No, but don't worry about it. I'll take care of informing them. Unless you want to tell Rodney that he has to leave the city in Zelenka's hands again." She chuckled and I took off. After a short jog back to my quarters, I gathered all I felt I would need. Checking to make sure my golden 'pen' was still firmly attached, I headed back. As expected, McKay was late, but the other person standing in the gate room puzzled me. "Major Lorne? You here to wish us off?"
"No, sir. My dad's having some medical problems. I'm needed at home. I've already briefed Major Addison. He's a good man and he'll take good care of Atlantis till you get back." Lorne reported. I scrutinized his face. Though he seemed reluctant to talk, I couldn't help but notice a slight tightening in his eyes, betraying his true worry. It annoyed me that the city wouldn't be in my trusted second in command's hands, but obviously there were more pressing issues.
"It's all right, Major. I understand." I responded. A glint came into my eye. "But if he screws anything up, I'm blaming you."
"I'll keep that in mind, sir." Lorne managed a half-smile at my try at levity. Something was very wrong. I only hoped that it would turn out okay. Not pressing any further, I turned to Carter.
"We just waiting on McKay?" Carter nodded and glanced at her watch. I sighed in exasperation. Finally, five minutes overdue, the scientist came huffing and puffing into the gate room. He looked at us in indignation.
"What?! There are a lot of important projects that I need to monitor. I had to at least grab my laptop." He attempted to adjust his pack and I rolled my eyes.
"Seeing as I haven't had a chance to do a full post-mission check-up on ANY of you four, we'll all be reporting to the infirmary as soon as possible. Including you, Col. Sheppard." Keller was even more annoyed than McKay at the forced debriefing. As we looked towards the shimmering wormhole, I nodded and waved us out. We stepped through the gate to find the SGC in a slight uproar. Looking at the soaked and mud-covered groups in front of us, my brow furrowed.
What's going on?" I asked one of the Marines. He looked as puzzled at the fact I didn't know what was happening. Then he noticed our Atlantis uniforms. He snapped to a salute that I waved off.
"Col. Mitchell's been missing for a few days and we just found him, sir. He's in the infirmary." He reported, though obviously soaking wet, cold, and tired.
"Which is where we are going, Col. Sheppard. NOW." Keller ordered. It seems she was seriously anxious to make sure we hadn't gotten injured and not told anyone about it. Teyla and McKay never deceived her, but I couldn't say the same for Ronon and me. Seriously, I didn't feel that broken arm last time. After greeting General Landry, we made our way through the corridors to the SGC infirmary.
"I seriously don't understand how all three of you got out of that building collapse alive." Keller continued. "And until I'm sure you all don't have internal injuries, you're not going to leave a hospital bed, got it?"
"Trust me, Doc, we're all fine." I tried to reassure her. As we crossed the seemingly empty room, something twisted in my gut. I felt someone sitting behind the next privacy curtain and, whoever it was, was not completely human. As I saw the curtain pull back, grabbed for my sword and shoved Keller and the others behind me, ignoring their gasps of protest. "What the hell…?"