I don't own Stargate Atlantis, as much as I wish I did. The characters are merely being... borrowed for a bit, for there own protection.

Beta'd by Angw

Inner Demons

By Cpt. Ritter

John Sheppard jogged down to the gate room. He was a few minutes late. Rodney McKay was waiting impatiently, his hand in the gate. John checked the safety on his gun. "Where are Teyla and Ronon?" He asked.

"Already through the gate, let's go." Rodney replied, annoyed.

"Like I need encouragement from you Rodney." John stepped through the gate, emerging on the other side.

Teyla and Ronon were waiting at the base of the stargate. The planet was fairly desolate, with no obvious villages, but barren forests surrounded the the stargate. The ground was composed of dry grass, with little vegetation of any kind.

"You are late John." Teyla said.

"Not necessarily," John replied, "the mission doesn't start until I step through the gate." John smiled.

"More laziness Sheppard." Ronon remarked.

The insult didn't faze John. "Nah, just finishing some last minute reports that should've been done two weeks ago. Rodney, what's on the agenda for today?"

"There's a set of ruins just north of here, maybe a kilometer."

"Ancient ruins, as in Atlantis ancients." John smirked.

"Yeah. The initial team didn't find much."

"But you think there'll be something there."

"Yeah, that's about the gist of it."

"Okay, let's get moving." John took point, using the ancient version of a compass to keep him moving in the right direction. He suppressed a breath flash of annoyance as Teyla and Ronon began talking about the Athosian combat arts. It bothered him, but he just passed it off as his imagination. "What do you think we'll find here?" He asked Rodney.

"Oh I don't know, probably nothing. If we're lucky, we'll find some writing on the walls."

"And if we're extremely lucky, a ZPM."

"The odds of that are..."
"Yeah, I know, extremely low. No need to quote them Rodney."

"Right, forgot you didn't like odds."

"No, I just don't need you showing how much smarter you are than me."

Teyla laughed at something.

John glanced over his shoulder, feeling the same flash of annoyance as before. He suppressed it again. "Besides Rodney, do you truly need to constantly remind me of my inferiority."

"Come on John." Rodney replied. "You know that Atlantis needs you. Your the only one who can use Ancient technology like a second skin."

John smiled, an image coming to his mind. "Bad analogy Rodney."

"Yeah... uhhh... more like a third hand."

John shuddered. "You're not getting better Rodney."

"Why don't you let me think about that one for a while?"

"Sure, it doesn't really matter. Just making small talk."

"Don't you usually do that with Teyla?"
"Yeah, but as you noticed..." John tried to keep his tone even. "she's busy at the moment."

Rodney didn't notice the annoyance in John's tone, or if he did, he didn't say anything.

John reached the ruins first. The ruins were not much, a few structures that resembled buildings, albeit with caved in roofs and holes in the wall. He wandered around idly, looking at the various markings on the walls. It was in ancient, he had seen enough of the language to know that. He couldn't begin to read it however.

In the center of the ruins, was a single stone slab, big enough to be a table. John wiped some of the dust from it. The stone was chipped, and marked with something. He blew away more of the dust, trying to get a clear picture.

The marking was red, almost blood red. A pointed object of some kind, John guess some kind of sword, was the most obvious part of the marking. As John looked at it, he kept getting a feeling of dread. He placed his hands on the sides of the table, looking at the marking.

As he looked at it more, he almost thought he saw it begin to glow. Suddenly, the entire center of the ruins was surrounded by a shield. John instinctively reached for his P90, bringing it into a ready position. He looked through the shield. Rodney was stationary, not even flinching. Teyla and Ronon were the same, sitting together on the ground.

"Teyla!" He called. "Ronon! Rodney!"

None of them moved, none of them flinched. He reached forward with his hand, trying to see if he could push through the force field. His hand jerked back as he touched the force field, an electrical shock making his hand numb. He turned back to the table. It was definitely glowing.

He lower his P90, looking down at the table again. He now saw a very small crease line, indicating that the table was not just a table. The area covered by the pointed object suddenly split into two openings, revealing a rock. The rock was elevated so that it's rounded dome sat above the table level.

John reached forward and the dome split into two haves. Inside was a small cylinder. He tentatively reached for it, cautious for any more surprises. He picked it up, this time nothing happened. He rolled it in his hand, looking for anything that might lead him as to how it worked.

At the base of it was a button. Holding it away from him, he pressed the button. A blade seemed to emerge from the handle, extending to the length of a sword. Surprisingly, it didn't weigh anything. Even the handle was incredibly light in his grasp.

He flipped it around several times, not sure what to make of it. He guessed it reminded him vaguely of the lightsabers from the movie Star Wars, although it was much less flamboyant. For starters, it was a dull grey color, not any number of bright colors available for a lightsaber.

Suddenly a figure appeared. John jumped, raising his P90 at the figure. The figure was dressed in some kind of elaborate robes, with a long grey beard. He looked human, or at least close. John had seen stranger things in the Pegasus galaxy.

"Hello." He said after a few moments of silence.

"Greetings, and welcome to my sanctuary." The figure replied enthusiastically.

"Mind telling me why my friends are... well, not moving."

"That is because in here, time has no meaning. You can go back in time, or forward. You can see the evolution of an entire species."

"Yeah, why the force field?" John held his P90 steady.

"Only one may use it. Only one with the genes of the ancestors."

"Genes? I know I have the ancient gene." John emphasized the singular 'gene'.

"No, that is where you are mistaken. You are the first apprentice to visit this place in a very long time."
"I think you've got the wrong guy. I'm Colonel John Sheppard, United States Air Force. My friends are Doctor McKay, Teyla, and Ronon."

"You are not the wrong person. You have come here, retrieved the sacred blade. Only an apprentice can do that."

"If your referring to the lightsaber. You can have it. I'm not even sure what I did to get it."

"You did what all apprentice's do. They must discover the blade, simply by understanding the altar. It leads to much greater things."

"Look, I'd really appreciate it if I could talk to my friends." The man with the beard continued, completely oblivious. John retracted the blade, then set the handle back on the altar. Nothing happened.

"... of course this is a great decision. If you need time to think, the you need to just ask."
"Hey." John snapped. "I need a lot of time to think, with my friends."

"Of course, you needed only say so. I do hope you return. You are needed to continue the order of time." The man disappeared.

The force field shimmered, then disappeared. John stepped slowly outside the boundaries of the field. "Rodney, pack it up, we're leaving."

"But we just got here, there's countless..."
"Just get moving!" John yelled.

"What is happening?" Teyla asked.

"No time to explain. Back to the gate."

John jogged into the woods, Rodney struggling to keep up, with Teyla and Ronon brining up the rear. As he glanced at his compass, he couldn't shake what the man had said. That is because here, time has no meaning. How can time have no meaning. He had always known that time was limited, that at one point he would grow old and eventually die. He hoped that it was measured in eighty plus years.

They reached the stargate, Rodney began to dial, painfully slowly. John suppressed the urge to yell at Rodney to pick up the pace. Finally, Rodney finished. John sent his IDC then motioned for them to enter the gate. Rodney walked through first, followed by Teyla, then Ronon, and finally John himself.

John stepped through the other side of the gate, into Atlantis' control room. He couldn't have found the place more inviting. It was not some strange world, it was home. As in truly home, the one place he felt he belonged.

"What happened?" Elizabeth asked as she walked down the steps.

"I don't know." Rodney said, the sarcasm dripping in his voice. "Maybe you should ask John, he's the one who suddenly yelled at us to get back to the gate."

"Shut up Rodney." John snapped. "You three weren't moving when I found this."

"What do you mean not moving. We'd been there all of two minutes before you yelled at us to leave."
"No, we'd been there around ten. A force field appeared, trapping me in the center."

"Not that I saw." Ronon commented dryly.

"It happened." John snapped angrily. "That happened after I dusted off an altar in the center of the ruins. Suddenly, this rock comes out of the altar, splits in two and gives me a lightsaber."

"A what?" Elizabeth asked, incredulous.

"Not really a lightsaber, just a handle with an extending blade. I just call it a lightsaber. Anyway, he said that there, time had no meaning. Then he rambled on for at least five minutes about me being an apprentice to some order of time or something."

"What happened then?"
"He tells me that if I need time to think, all I have to do is ask. I say I need a lot of time. Then he disappears, the force field drops and I tell everyone to get out of there."

"Do have any proof?"
"You don't trust me?"

"Teyla did you see anything?"

"No Doctor Weir." Teyla replied. "I was speaking with Ronon when John told us to get out of there. I do not remember any force field."

"John, go see Doctor Beckett."

"What?" John asked, shocked. "You think I'm crazy?"
"I just think your under a lot of stress, now please, go see Carson."

"Alright, but I know what I saw."

"I'm sure you did John." Rodney mocked. "There's just a lack of concrete evidence to show that anything really happened."
"I yelled for you guys as soon as the force field came up, you guys didn't respond. None of you moved a muscle the entire time I was talking to him. You didn't move until I left the center area."

"It took us ten minutes to get there, two minutes there, and ten minutes back." Rodney showed John his watch. "We arrived at 0930, we left at 0952. It now 0955."

"That can't be right." John said, looking at his watch. "I know we must've spent at least ten minutes up there. It should be just after ten."

"John please see Doctor Beckett." Teyla said firmly.

John flinched away from her glare. She thought he was crazy too. It hurt more than he could imagine. All those times he'd stood up for her, and she'd just dropped him like he was a brick. He glanced at Ronon. Ronon was a blank slate, no emotion. John turned around and began walking to the infirmary.