THE NIGHT OF THE TIME TRAVEL PORTAL

By Andamogirl

Author's note: A Wild Wild West (season 2) - Stargate Atlantis (season 5) crossover. It's been two years that the city-ship Atlantis is back on Earth, floating in the middle of San Francisco bay.

The TV series The Wild Wild West never existed (for the SGA characters at least) – but Star Trek does exist and Alf exists too.

References to the following Wild Wild West episodes: "The night of the red eyed madmen", "The night of the watery death", "The night of the flying pie plate", "The night of the infernal machine".

References to the following Stargate Atlantis episodes: "Trinity", "Epiphany", "Be all my sins remembered", "Phantoms", "The Tao of Rodney."

References to the following Star Trek the original series episodes: "The city on the edge of forever" and "Spectre of the gun".

Many thanks to my beta reader Old Toad.

Ben Victor: "Well, you're James West, of course."

Jim: "I-I didn't know it showed."

Ben Victor: "But it does. The incorruptible eyes, the Federal jut of the jaw."

TNOT Flying Pie Plate

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CHAPTER ONE

2009

San Francisco,

City of Atlantis

1100

Dr. Rodney McKay changed the crystals around in the slots, and the door immediately un-locked. "Et voila!" He said with a smug smile, as the door, closed for 10,000 years, opened. "No locked door resists me."

Colonel John Sheppard took a step forward and immediately a vast room lit, revealing a giant oval-shaped device occupying almost all the space.

Rodney's eyes sparkled with excitement. "Whoa! – I didn't know there was such a very, very big device here," he said, holding his scanner and moving towards the device. "It looks like a stargate."

Sheppard nodded. "I'm not surprised that we didn't find it before. Atlantis is huge, and we haven't explored it completely, even after seven years on board."

McKay 'hmmed' and began walking around the device, his eyes riveted to his scanner. "Do you know what I'm thinking about?" he suddenly asked John.

Sheppard smirked. "Food?"

Rodney stopped in front of a control panel which featured many coloured panels and knobs, and it came to life thanks to his ATA gene. He gave the other man his best black look. "Ha! Ha! Very funny. No, not food. But now that you mention it, the cooks will be serving juicy steaks, sautéed potatoes and chocolate cake in the mess for lunch…if Ronon doesn't pillage the whole thing before I can reach the mess hall. You know I'm sure he has more than one stomach. Perhaps eight like Alf." He giggled. "And he looks like an over-sized Alf. Fortunately there are no cats here that he can eat. He could have eaten mine."

Sheppard snapped his fingers twice. "Rodney, focus!"

McKay nodded. "Yes, yes, focusing. Like a stargate, that Ancient device is a portal – and portals usually lead somewhere. Now let's find out where exactly." He slid his scanner into a pocket of his BDU, pressed several buttons here and there, and the machine whirred awake. Then he pulled his tablet out of his backpack and let his fingers fly over the screen for a couple of minutes. "Hmmm…"

John lost patience. "Hmmm what? What?"

Rodney rolled his eyes. "Jeez! Are you five? You have the patience of a little boy. Keep quiet and let the only grownup in the room work peacefully."

He pressed another button, and a white blinding light suddenly appeared in the middle of the portal before swelling and expanding, completely filling the whole oval opening.

Sheppard raised his eyebrows with surprise, as animated images in vivid colours suddenly appeared, like a movie on a giant TV screen. "Cool! I think that we found the Ancients' TV room, Rodney."

McKay took his scanner in his other hand. "I think not. I've got strange readings here…"

Stunned, Sheppard pointed at one of the 'actors' in the movie. "Look Rodney! It's President Lincoln, but that's impossible…"

Rodney huffed and said, "Impossible? Here in Atlantis? That word doesn't exist. Anything's possible here, John, anything."

Images changed on 'the screen' and they were now showing raging battles of the Civil War, between Union and Confederate soldiers.

The scientist snapped his fingers twice. "I remember now! I had those strange readings on my scanner - or readings close to them - when you went through that time dilation field on that planet – I don't remember its name, and it's not important – you know, the planet where you met your other Ancient girlfriend: Teer." He gestured towards the device, beaming. "Oh! That's great! It's not a giant TV John, those images are real… It's a like a live report! That device is a time portal! Like the Guardian of Forever in Star Trek! But without the creepy voice." He frowned, puzzled. "But why showing that period of time in Earth history? Maybe they had the intention to go there, for study – and actually went there..."

Sheppard glanced at the time portal, now showing images of another dark-haired, bearded man making a speech at the US Capitol, and recognized him: Ulysses S. Grant, 18th President of the United States.

Rodney took a step backwards, lost in his thoughts, and suddenly a stream of blue ribbon-light flowed down from the ceiling and enveloped him. The blood drained from his face and he panicked. "Oh no! No-no-no! Not again, John! Help me!"

Sheppard leapt to push McKay out of the column of light – and at the instant he grabbed his best friend's arm they both dematerialized.

On the 'screen' had appeared President Ulysses S. Grant. The time travel device paused as the image froze in the middle of the portal with the date 1875.

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1875

San Francisco railroad yard

The Wanderer

Holding a cup of coffee, James West left the galley and entered the parlor car a few seconds later. "How are you feeling Artie?" he asked his best friend, partner and surrogate brother.

Artemus Gordon was lying on a silk brocade sofa, his right ankle and foot bandaged, elevated and resting on a cushion.

The older man was reading a newspaper, his back propped against a pillow. "I'm fine, Jim," he said. "I hate being stuck here while so many interesting things happen in the country. Like a series of mysterious kidnappings of catholic priests in Arizona Territory, a convoy of Russian migrants vanishing into thin air in Texas, or pistoleros raiding our border with Mexico, etc. etc." He folded the pages of the San Francisco Gazette, his brow furrowed, clearly frustrated.

Placing his steaming cup on the table, Jim sat on a chair and smiled. "Maybe it has something to do with the fact that you are on medical rest leave and I'm on vacation, Artie." He waved his finger in a 'you shouldn't have done that' way. "It's your fault, you know. You shouldn't have walked so soon after you sprained your ankle and injured your foot. Now your injury has worsened and you can barely walk, even with your crutches. That's why we're stuck here."

Artemus nodded. "I know, Jim, but I couldn't stay at the hospital – despite the presence of those lovely nurses - and leave you alone. We were on a mission. We had to stop those counterfeiters - together."

Taking a swallow of burning coffee Jim then nodded. "And we did."

Slowly, Artie pulled himself to a sitting position, resting his injured limb carefully on the carpeted floor. "I'm stuck here, not you. Go outside, enjoy yourself with San Francisco's nightly festivities, Jim, I don't mind. There are so many things to do here, for example: going to restaurants with beautiful women; going to the theatre with beautiful women; going to the opera with beautiful women…" He smiled and added, "You don't have to stay with me, have some fun! I'm a big boy; I can take care of myself. I'm going to work in my lab on the schematics of my new automatic rifle."

Surprised James lifted his eyebrows. "Automatic rifle?"

Standing up gingerly Artie nodded and took his crutches which were resting against the wood-panelled wall. "Yes, automatic rifle, and it's brilliant if I do say so myself, Jim."

The younger man smiled. "All your inventions are brilliant Artie."

Smiling, Artie bowed slightly in a quietly dramatic gesture. "Thank you James. About that automatic rifle. It could revolutionize warfare you know? I worked on a rough clay model last year, and I only started the schematics a couple of months ago. I didn't have time to do it before. It's very complex, but fascinating. You see, instead of reloading each time, an automatic firearm continuously fires rounds as long as the trigger is pressed and held and there is ammunition in the magazine or in the chamber. It's like a portable and more sophisticated Gatling gun." He took a step towards the swinging door and let out a muffled cry of pain. "I hope to be able to create that weapon in the coming months. Oh! And I also improved the telescopic sight I intend to place on my new automatic rifle."

Jim was very impressed. "You're really an amazing man, Artie," he said. He patted his best friend's arm. "See you later then, have fun with your schematics."

Artemus nodded. "Oh I will."

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Later

James West was heading towards the most renowned saloon in San Francisco when he noticed a strange flash of blinding light coming from a nearby alley. Intrigued, he headed there, his hand on the butt of his gun.

Sheppard and McKay, who had just materialized in a dark alley, both swayed on unsteady legs for a few seconds, both confused and disoriented. John looked around him, blinking and said, "We're not in Atlantis anymore…" And he gasped with surprise as he saw a horse-carriage pass in the street at the other end of the alley and then saw cowboys on horses. "That time-travel portal sent us back into the past, to the 1870's West, to be precise, during Ulysses S. Grant's presidency."

Rodney groaned, annoyed. "We ended in the Wild West, great! It's my favourite time period! With all those people carrying guns and shooting at you! We both could end up very dead in a matter of minutes here." He slid his scanner into the pocket of his jacket and put his tablet back in his backpack. "It's like we have both turned up in that Star Trek episode called 'the city on the edge of forever'. Of course, as you are Colonel Joli Coeur - you're Kirk, and as I am the most intelligent person here – and of that barbaric time period too – I'm Spock."

Sheppard nodded. "But we're not searching for a delusional Bones who accidentally gave himself a shot of cordrazine. As I recall, that episode time period wasn't in the 19th century, Rodney, but early 20th century. But I know what you mean. What's the name of that episode with that weird re-creation of the 1881 historic gunfight at the OK Corral?... Oh yes, 'Spectre of the gun.' It's a good episode."

Rodney smirked. "Meet my best friend: Colonel John - Trekker - Sheppard."

John put his hand on the butt of his Beretta. "Come Rodney, we can't stay here; we have to find a place to stay for the night. Let's go."

Rodney followed John. "Where? We don't have any money. No money: no hotel. Perhaps we could get arrested for the night and sleep in prison? It's free. What about us fighting, uh? But you let me win."

They had reached the street when they found themselves face to face with James West, holding his gun. Sheppard immediately pulled out his pistol too and pointed it at the other man.

Rodney rolled his eyes. "That's incredible! We ended up here two minutes ago, and you're already ready to get involved in a gunfight!"

Puzzled and intrigued Jim lowered his gun. These men were wearing strange clothes – some kinds of uniform he had never seen before. The taller man had a completely black uniform with a patch showing a winged horse with the name ATLANTIS written above. The shorter one had a dark grey uniform with blue panels and the same patch on his left sleeve. The dark-haired man standing in front of him held a gun – black, compact – which he couldn't recognize – and he was a firearms expert. Maybe they were foreign navy officers, the Atlantis being the name of their ship, he mused.

Jim lifted his hand in a gesture of appeasement. "My name is James West; I'm a special agent working for the United States Government."

Sheppard put his gun back in place and relaxed a little. "You're an agent of the Secret Services?" he asked, very surprised.

Nodding, Jim pulled out his ever present identification card from the inside pocket of his jacket and showed it to the other man. "Yes, and you are?" he asked.

Rodney took a step forward and said, "We are foreigners, travellers, we got lost. It was a pleasure to meet you, Mr. West. Goodbye." He grabbed John's arm. "Come on John, let's go."

Sheppard looked at his best friend. "No, we need help Rodney – until Zelenka finds a way to bring us back - and this man can help us."

Rodney groaned and said. "Oh yes, I forgot that part. Radek! Then you can bet we're going to stay here for a long time." He nodded. "Okay, we need help, but don't forget the Temporal Prime Directive John. We mustn't interfere in historical events, in the natural development of a timeline."

Sheppard glanced at the younger man and shook his head. "That's Star Trek Rodney, that's fiction. We are in real life here. Forget it! The simple fact that we met this man here – a secret agent – probably changed the timeline already. We'll do our best to stay under the radar and not to get involved in major historical events, though. But we have to live here now - until we can go back and that means merging with that timeline – and have help. I'm sure that we can trust Mr. West, he won't tell anything, and he'll keep everything we'll tell him secret. Okay?"

Rodney nodded. "Okay."

John looked then at the secret agent and added, "I'm Colonel John Sheppard, USAF and my friend here is Doctor Rodney McKay, a civilian astrophysicist. We… accidentally travelled backward into the past. We're both from the 21st century. Could we talk privately somewhere?"

Tbc