Summary: The smallest of life forms has the potential to be the deadliest. An adventure that leads to many things. Shep whump and plenty of angst.

Spoiler: None takes place after season 5

Shipping: John/Teyla. Even if you don't like the idea please give the story a chance.

Rating:- T for mild adult content.

Disclaimer:- I don't own Stargate Atlantis.

Sorry no beta so all the mistakes are mine.

I've had this story written for months but never got around to posting it. This is my first attempt at romance so please be kind and hopefully I've kept our favourites in character as much as possible.

Fragile Lives

Chapter 1

The first thing Teyla noticed after stepping through the Stargate onto M5K 992 was the sweet smell of Shari flowers in full bloom. Having been here many years ago, she recalled that the beautiful, delicate blue flowers grew wild on this planet just like they did on so many others, including New Athos. However as lovely as the flowers were their subtle perfume brought back an unwanted memory. Strange how certain smells could do that.

Teyla tried hard to suppress the recollection but couldn't stop her thoughts from drifting back to happier times when her friendship with Kanaan had turned to something more. Her eyes filled with moisture at the memory of him picking a large bunch of the beautiful flowers and presenting them to her as a gift. Come nightfall she had placed the Shari blooms near her sleeping area and had finally allowed him to share her bed.

A single tear rolled down her cheek at the memory of that peaceful night when things had been so good with Kanaan. Before Michael and the horrors he had committed upon them all. A time before everything had changed and her world had turned upside down. Teyla quickly moved away from her team to look over the sunlit, flower filled pastures that stretched away from the Stargate as she did not wish for them to see her distress.

"You okay, Teyla?"

Of course he would notice. Teyla quickly swiped her hand across her cheek and turned to look directly into his concerned and loving eyes. She gave him a small, and hopefully, reassuring smile. "I am fine, John."

Sheppard nodded. Although he wasn't entirely convinced, yet he knew Teyla wouldn't appreciate it if he dug any further. "Okay then, let's go find out what's wrong here."

They started to move, silent, each deep in their own thoughts. Even McKay remained quiet upon sensing the mood of his team. John took up the lead after giving Teyla another concerned glance. He had a very good idea what was troubling her as yesterday had marked the first anniversary of Kanaan's untimely death. He guessed something here must have triggered a memory.

As he walked ahead of them, John recalled the day that had changed Teyla and Torren's life forever. It had been a routine day with no missions or troubles during a period of re-establishing contact with old friends and allies, and generally getting settled back into Pegasus life after their return from Earth. Kanaan together with Halling had gone on a trading trip, as Kanaan had stated his desire for some Pegasus food and treats after living off Earth supplies for quite a while. It turned out to be a very unfortunate decision indeed. They had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time when a group of bandits had raided the trading post they were at. Although normally a very placid man, Kanaan had tried to stop them and had been stabbed for his effort in a most brutal way.

Teyla had first learnt of the tragedy when Halling arrived through the Stargate carrying her partner's lifeless body. During the difficult weeks and months that followed, John had tried his hardest to help her as much as possible. However she had been distant, almost unfriendly at times. At one stage she'd even attempted to push him away, telling him that she didn't need his help or his sympathy. Her reaction had been hurtful. Yet somehow John had understood her situation and had stubbornly stuck by her as much as he could, which wasn't as much as he would have liked because his time had been limited with the pressures of his job taking up much of his attention.

Despite their best efforts, the Wraith continued to be a major threat. As a result the demands of the planetary coalition had escalated considerably. There had been plenty of resentment over the sudden departure of Atlantis and its extensive absence from Pegasus. Consequently, Mr. Woolsey had felt obliged to give them extra support upon their return. In the long run this had meant even more work for the Atlantis away teams, especially his. Teyla hadn't been with them during her initial mourning period stating that Torren needed her close by. After finding a regular childminder she had eventually rejoined his team, much to John's relief. Now a year later things were thankfully back to normal.

Right now they were on a mission to M5K 992, locally known as Calabria, to check out the apparent absence of their coalition representatives during the last meeting a few days ago. The Calabrian delegation had simply failed to turn up and nothing had been heard from them since. Because of the distinct possibility that their nonattendance was Wraith related, Atlantis had been asked to investigate. Mr. Woolsey had jumped right in and had volunteered to send a team. And much to Rodney's dismay the assignment had ended up with them.

A pure waste of our time the scientist had grumbled. Hopefully Rodney was right. A small smile touched John's lips at the memory of Rodney's expression of disgust just before they had left Atlantis. John's smile quickly disappeared when he thought about what they might discover once they reached the main community of Tandria approximately two klicks from the Gate. Hopefully there was a perfectly good explanation, but John hated the unknown.

They followed the well defined pathway through pleasant green fields and wooded boundaries, heavily trodden because apparently the natives were a very friendly, outgoing people. They loved going off-world as much as possible in order to trade with other communities, including the occasional exchange with Atlantis. Apart from Teyla, John and the rest of his team had never been here before but other gate teams had and they had never reported any problems during their visits. Despite that fact, John couldn't shake the uneasy feeling. Even the clement weather did nothing to drive it away.

He gave Teyla another quick glance and asked. "Feeling any Wraith yet?"

She returned his look with a warm smile. "No, I do not believe the problem is Wraith related."

Rodney broke his silence. "Oh, and what makes you so certain of that?"

To Teyla the answer was simple, "Because if the Wraith were here I would have felt them long ago. You know that fact very well by now, Rodney."

When he replied, Rodney's voice was laced with sarcasm. "Oh right, I forgot about your super spidey Wraith senses."

"McKay! That was totally uncalled for!"

"It is all right, John. He is only nervous because of his forthcoming marriage to Jennifer."

Rodney looked peeved. "That is so not true."

John rolled his eyes knowing that Teyla was probably right. Although Rodney denied it, it was more than likely the reason for his increased sarcasm and irritability of late. Heck John was nervous too and he was only the best man. He was happy for his friend and sincerely hoped that he and Jennifer could make a real go of it because they were good for each other.

He exchanged another quick smile with Teyla, which she didn't return this time leaving John feeling slightly disappointed. He quietly sighed before continuing on towards their destination. As he quickened the pace, his thoughts drifted to the nonexistent relationship he still had with Teyla. If only things were different between them. Yet despite his loving attention and care over the years, she gave him no indication that she wanted anything other than his friendship. And he was just too socially inept to express his true feelings for her, so nothing ever changed between them. It probably never would.

Deep in thought John lost his concentration for a moment, turning slightly red in the face when he realised that the rest of his team had stopped in their tracks some way back. Turning around, he gave them a puzzled look before walking back to join them. "Why'd you stop?"

"Ask Conan here."

The big Satedan stood stock still with his nose in the air. "Ronon? You got something?" John queried.

"Yeah, can't you smell that?" The rest of the team looked perplexed, although it wasn't unusual for Ronon to notice things before they did. His highly attuned senses came as a result of his many years as a runner when he had needed to be on full alert the whole time.

"Smell what?" John asked for the rest.

Ronon didn't answer, he simply wandered off beyond the path and over to a slight ditch in the nearest field. Again he stood perfectly motionless as the rest of the team came up to stand behind him. For a moment they didn't notice that he had his nose tightly pitched between his fingers. It didn't take them long before they did exactly the same.

"Oh my god that's just so gross!" Rodney shouted a little too loudly before he quickly walked away, feeling like he was going to lose his breakfast. Somehow, he managed to get the reflex back under control by thinking about yesterday's pleasant trip to the mainland with Jennifer. And yes, he had learnt to be a bit more romantic these days.

John turned his head away for a minute as even he had trouble controlling his gag reflex. And he was supposed to be a hardened soldier but whatever lay in the ditch was unbelievably gruesome. The maggot covered, fly infested mass of flesh was probably the remains of a human as it was roughly the right shape and size. There appeared to be some clothing still on the corpse but it was badly stained and tattered. The limbs were grotesquely twisted and mouth gapping open, as if the person had screamed long and hard before dying. Of course that happened to Wraith victims, yet for some reason John didn't think the corpse had been feed upon.

He wanted confirmation so he turned to Ronon who still had the ability to stare at the cadaver. Teyla had already moved away to stand near McKay. John certainly couldn't blame her as he felt like doing the same. "I don't think that's a Wraith feeding. What do you think?"

Ronon shook his head. "Na, too fleshy."

"Yeah that's what I thought. So the person was either murdered or attacked by a wild animal."

Once again Ronon shook his head. "Difficult to tell. Doubt it was an animal, more likely a human attack."

Holding his P90 steady, John started to move away. "Oh great, let's go find out what the town folks know about it and be on the alert for possible bandits." That advice definitely applied to him, no more daydreaming.

The closer they got to the town called Tandria, the more John's uneasy feeling grew until it became acute. An eerie silence prevailed over the land. Not a soul or domestic animal could be seen. Usually when they arrived at such places they would have seen workers in the fields by now. However, the crops remained undisturbed. In fact some of the fruit and vegetables looked to be overripe, even rotting away in places.

Ronon halted once again. Thankfully John noticed straight away this time. He came up to stand beside the big Satedan. "Sense something else, Chewie?"

"Yeah, there's another body over here," Ronon said, pointing to an outcrop of bushes near an outhouse where a similar looking corpse lay surrounded by flies.

John sighed, "Looks like we might be dealing with an attack of some kind. Maybe it's the work of the Bola Kai or some equally brutal pillagers. What do you think Teyla?" He turned to look at her but she had already moved further into the outskirts of the town. John ran to catch her up. "Let's stick together, shall we."

"I am sorry, John, but I thought I heard something over near that stone wall." Teyla pointed to what looked like someone's backyard.

Curious they moved together to glance over the rough stone wall into the area beyond where yet another body lay face down, not quite as badly decayed as the others had been. From its attire it appeared to be a female, although obviously very dead. John held his P90 steady and entered the small garden through a waist high, wooden gate. After a moment's hesitation, Teyla moved to follow him while Rodney and Ronon waited just beyond the wall, on alert for possible attackers. Rodney in particular looked around nervously and remained unusually quiet.

John moved over to the body and nudged it with his foot. Turning it over he could see what looked like angry sores and discolouration on her limbs. There were also signs that she had suffered a great deal. From her facial expression her last hours must have been spent in pure agony. "I don't think she's been dead that long. And it certainly wasn't any human attack that killed her."

"Yes, I agree. I believe some form of sickness has taken her."

John straightened and nodded. "Which could mean the others died that way too." He turned to Rodney and Ronon. "Looks like we're dealing with some form of disease," he informed them as he started to move out of the yard. "Okay, let's look for survivors but don't touch anything and try not to come into contact with any sick people. If we find any survivors we'll call for…." John suddenly stopped dead in his tracks as the wail of a child could be heard coming from an area near a simple stone house.

Without hesitation, he turned on his heel and quickly headed towards the sound. It didn't take him long to locate the child. To his horror John saw that the toddler had fallen down into a drain, which was partially filled with muddy water. Without stopping to contemplate the consequences, he placed his gun on the ground and scooped the child up out of the drain.

"John, no!" Teyla screamed, fearing that the child was also contaminated. Her cry came too late as John already had the youngster securely in his arms.

"I couldn't just leave him in there!" John shouted over the toddler's howling. "Oh come on, kid, you're safe now," he tried to pacify. Surprisingly after a few more ear splitting yells, the little one began to calm down. Then without warning it suddenly flung its arms around John's neck and clung on for dear life. John was subjected to a face full of wet, slobbery drool.

"Oh that is so not good." Rodney muttered as he joined them, making sure he kept a safe distance between him and the child.

"I'm fully aware of that, McKay. I couldn't just leave the kid to maybe drown or catch pneumonia." John looked around. "Guess he could have belonged to the dead woman, although he doesn't appear to be sick. Alright there could be other survivors out there, so we'll continue to look around. However, my earlier warning still stands."

Rodney rolled his eyes. "Oh right, maybe you should have heeded your own advice."

"It's too late for that now, so let's get this over and done with. Then we'll decide what to do about the kid." After giving the infant a sip of water from his bottle, John leant down to retrieve his gun getting a whiff of a very unpleasant odour. "Pooh, you need a bath and a new diaper, young fella."

Teyla smiled at his comment and waited as John left the garden with the child tightly held in his arms. A sudden coldness came over her as she watched him. She couldn't say why but she had a bad feeling that the future wasn't going to be as simple as giving the child a bath.

Following on behind, Teyla pondered for a moment as she slowly walked back towards the others. She really cared a great deal about John's wellbeing. She'd always done so from the moment they had met and if she would admit it, she loved him even. Consequently she worried every time something happened to threaten his safety, which unfortunately proved all too often.

She still missed Kanaan, although not as much as she really should. Things had been particularly difficult immediately after losing him, mainly because Kanaan had always been there for Torren. Not that she'd been without plenty of help since his death. John in particular was trying his hardest to assist her whenever he could find the time, especially being there in the evenings to look after Torren so that she could find time for her other pursuits. She knew she hadn't always been that kind towards him, especially early on. Teyla couldn't really explain why. Maybe it was the fact she was alone again or was it out of frustration over their situation. Even after a year she still couldn't bring herself to show John that she wouldn't mind something more than just his friendship. Most of her uncertainty stemmed from the fact that she wasn't so sure how he truly felt about them. Did he view himself as a supportive friend or did he wish for something more between them? That was the question and she wondered just how long it would take to find out.

She sighed and began to follow her team as they headed off further into the town.

TBC

Hope you like the beginning and please review.