Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate: Atlantis or Stargate: SG-1.

Author's note: There is an episode of X-Files (which I do not own either), 'The field where I died' that made me think about the paths – avenues – one's life takes and whether we really were meant to meet certain people during our lifetimes. Is there really someone that you need to have in your life, no matter in which manner? Or is it just random coincidences?

And of course, there is the story that at the first humans were created as a whole: a complete soul. But the gods (Zeus et al.) became jealous of their happiness and tore them in two. Ever since we have been searching for the other half of our souls. I like this story.

PS: this is the fifth episode of Season 6 - my style. The series starts with 'I am Atlantis,' then 'Spite and Malice,' 'The Last Petal' & 'The Last Petal part 2.' You might want to read those first to understand this story.

Chapter 1

John!

Elizabeth Weir woke with the memory of a scream still on her lips. What happened? she wondered. There had been a flash and the tortured sound of ripping metal...

Quickly she reached over and turned on her bedside lamp. It was a low wattage lamp and the light did not hurt her darkened eyes. John... She looked around the room: her room. The one she has had for years now, ever since her older sister had moved out.

As she settled back into the pillows, she had the nagging feeling that something was wrong. Yes, this was her room. Yet that did not quell the feeling that this was not how it should be. There had been that flash and the sound of metal being ripped apart...

Suddenly her door creaked open and her mom looked in; eyes still bleary from sleep.

"Lizzy, are you okay?" the older woman asked, her eyes worried.

Still confused, Lizzy shook her head. "No, Mom, I'm fine," she replied. Already that nagging feeling of wrong was fading. She was Lizzy Weir and today was her school graduation. It sometimes felt as if she had been working her entire seventeen years towards this day. Yet even today was only the first step in the bigger plan Lizzy had with her life.

"You were screaming," her mom questioned.

Once more – for just a moment – the feeling of this being wrong flashed through Lizzy. But it passed and it was immediately replaced with excitement.

"I'm fine. It was probably just a nightmare," the girl assured her mom. Tearing metal and a blinding flash...

"Okay," the woman said, slightly lowering her head and lifting a single eyebrow in the process. Usually this expression could get any hidden information from Lizzy, but that which had seemed strange had already faded like the dream it had to be, and Lizzy felt she had nothing to say to her mother. "Well, I'm making breakfast," Lizzy's mom finally said. As she turned to leave, young Lizzy suddenly had the strangest urge to hug her mom. It seemed that she hadn't done so in years.

"Are you sure you are all right?" her mom asked as Lizzy flung herself at the woman.

"Yeah, I'm just happy to be here with you," Lizzy answered. She held on a moment later before releasing her startled mother. Then she smiled. "Pancakes?" she enquired.

"Only today." This time the woman left and Lizzy rushed through her morning routine. Today was not a day to be late.

Forty minutes later Lizzy arrived at school. As was her habit, she waited for her two best friends at the small table near the entrance. Everyone knew this was their spot. Well, actually everyone knew it was Tayler's spot. But no-one wanted to cross the beautiful blonde leader of the small group.

As Lizzy watched Tayler and Annie walk up to her, she suddenly wondered why she and Annie were friends with Tayler. Tayler was stunning: tall and willowy with long blonde hair. Lizzy and Annie looked almost the same: short and plump with dark hair. Only Annie's eyes were nearly black – something Lizzy considered her best feature.

And in an era where Madonna still set the trend with lots of loose clothes with drapes, studs and leather accessories, Tayler set her own trend. The girl usually wore a bright top belted at the waist with skin-tight jeans and bright shoes. On Lizzy this looked ridiculous, but on Tayler it was stunning.

It was then she realised why she and Annie were allowed to be friends with the girl: both Annie and Lizzy set off Tayler's own good looks. They were the other girl's backdrop.

"Hello, Lizzy," Tayler greeted with an air-kiss. Annie smiled, but did not air-kiss. Suddenly angry, Lizzy decided there and then she would never again use that meaningless gesture.

"Hello, Tayler," she coolly replied. She turned to Annie. "Hey, you."

"Hey," the shy girl replied and together the three of them set off towards the school hall where the ceremony would be held. It was a small school, but even so the committee had tried their best with decorating the hall and making the graduation of the class of '85 a memorable occasion.

As expected, the ceremony went down without a hitch, and soon after the three girls found themselves – or rather, Tayler – in the midst of conversation. Tayler had been the one to give a final speech, yet Lizzy had been the one to achieve the best score in the final exams. But Tayler was popular; and now she droned on about writing the speech and giving the speech. Then she wanted to know how it had been. But before either Annie or Lizzy could balm her ego, the blonde girl spotted someone behind them.

"John!" she called and waved at the person behind them. At the sound of that name, something inside Lizzy leapt. She spun around; hoping to find whatever it was that had haunted her all morning.

Behind her a dark haired young man was hugging Tayler. After a moment the two stepped apart and the young man turned to look at the two girls. His eyes were the same shade of blue as Tayler's and Lizzy suddenly remembered meeting him before – he was a cousin, only a few years older than the girls.

The feeling inside her died.

"Girls, you remember John William, my cousin?" Tayler asked, clinging to the handsome man and basking in the looks the other girls shot her way. Strange: Lizzy had never before realised how egocentric the girl was.

#####

John Sheppard woke with a gasp of pain. A flash of light and metal rendered asunder... But the pain and the strange memory faded as he snuggled closer to the warm feminine bundle beside him. It was still a wonder every morning to wake beside Elizabeth. Well, it had been only two mornings, but they had been incredibly memorable mornings. And the nights had been perfect as he had known it would be from the start.

With a smile he went back to sleep and the strange dream slipped away.

"John?" a voice intruded. He turned around and hoped to go back to sleep. But the voice wouldn't go away. "Hey, John!"

"Yeah, what?" he grumbled as he finally sat up. The girl calling him offered up her gift: a mug of coffee. As he took a sip, he suddenly realised two distinct things. First: he had no idea who this girl was. Second: she made the worst coffee. He squinted at her.

"Oh, don't worry," she told him as she started dressing. "You were so out of it, I don't blame you for not remembering my name," she told him. Finally dressed, she turned and left. And at last memory – as well as a masterly hang-over – suddenly hit him. They had gone out to celebrate the final game of the season last night. There they had picked up some girls that had seemed willing to party with them.

Well, obviously the party had ended here. Just too bad he couldn't remember anything of the previous night.

A piercing light and the shriek of metal...

While he was shaving, he looked at himself in the mirror. He was only nineteen years old, it was the year 1985 and his whole life lay before him. Yet he felt old this morning. The eyes staring at him were those of a man who had seen too much in life.

He finally sighed and dried his face on the towel. As the soft cloth covered his eyes, he suddenly thought back to the strange dream he had last night. He had been sleeping next to a woman he had known, not the stranger that woke beside him this morning.

And then, of course, there was the pain. The sound as the ship tore apart... But that was ridiculous, he thought as he finished with the task and donned his uniform. If there was one thing in life that defined John Sheppard, then it was his passion for flying. The moment he had graduated, he had joined the Air Force. It didn't matter that he didn't always agree with the rules and the command structure: for him it was all about the flying.

And he was getting a good education along with the deal, he had to admit. And perhaps it was time to stop acting like a teenager and grow up. If he wanted to get expelled, then fraternization with a civilian on base was a good way to do it.

So, as the sun rose pink in the east, John Sheppard, air force cadet, made a life changing decision.

#####

"I'm telling you, the dream was as real as anything you have ever experienced!" Rodney McKay told his roommate. Only minutes ago he had woken both of them with his screams. Now he was agitated and moody. He liked his sleep, and even though he seldom got enough of it, those times that he actually hoped on enough sleep it shouldn't be interrupted by wild nightmares.

Besides, his nightmares were usually a lot less strange than this. And there hadn't been any clowns in it; just the nice comfort of numbers. But then something had happened in the moment the blinding flash had ripped the metal apart.

And the pain of his body being ripped apart; wishing he could save Sitnalta...

"Yeah, well, just go back to bed," Anthony mumbled. Rodney's roommate was not known for his understanding and compassion. But then again, neither was Rodney, to be honest.

"No," the young Rodney McKay answered; already distracted. "I think I'll work on my theory some more," he said. He pulled his books closer and looked at the equations therein. It wasn't easy, being eighteen while all of his class mates were in their mid-twenties. But being a genius had its advantages, as well. One of those was a memory for numbers.

So instead of working on the problem he was basing his thesis on, he started on a new, different set of problems. They were equations from a fading dream, but to Rodney they seemed as real as the science he had based his entire life on.