This was it, their last chance to convince the IOA to let Atlantis return to the Pegasus galaxy. If not, the city would stay on Earth for at least another year until the IOA even thought about letting them go back. John couldn't even believe they had been on Earth for 15 months now. The IOA was convinced that Earth needed the city more than the Pegasus galaxy. They thought the Wraith would forget about Earth if the threat of Atlantis was gone.

Teyla and Ronon decided to return to their home after the IOA officially announced their decision a year ago. They left on the Daedalus a week later. Ever since then, the Daedalus and Apollo have been making trips between the Milky Way and Pegasus galaxies every other month. They would make contact with a few of Earth's allies, including the Athosians

While that had been happening, most who had called Atlantis home were forced to find another life. Only a few IOA approved scientists and military personnel were allowed to stay on Atlantis. Atlantis itself was moved back to Antarctica so no one accidently stumbled upon it. Rodney created a bypass so the Pegasus gate wouldn't dominate the Milky Way gate. Eventually Sheppard was given command of SG-4 and Rodney became lead scientist at Stargate Command. But after a few months of listening to Rodney complain about being bored, Sheppard pulled some strings and made McKay part of his team. Jennifer became a doctor at the SGC and Mr. Woolsey went back to the IOA, his main purpose to get Atlantis back to its home.

Now, Rodney and John stood looking down at the stargate under Cheyenne Mountain. General O'Neill sat at the table behind them. The IOA and Mr. Woolsey would be here any minute with their decision. Rodney nervously adjusted his tie for the fourth time in the last few minutes.

Finally the door opened. Woolsey lead in two men and a woman. One man was bald with a grey beard and pristine navy suit. Dr. Carl Strom. John already knew this meeting was important if the head of the IOA was here. The other man and the woman were wearing Russian military uniforms. The man he recognized easily. Colonel Pavel Krupin, the new Russian liaison to Stargate Command after Colonel Chekov died in the fight against the Ori. He was tall and slender; wrinkles covered his face and his eyebrows always seemed to be furrowed. The woman seemed so familiar; blonde hair up in a tight bun and piercing ice blue eyes. She was tall and muscular. John remembers seeing her multiple times around the SGC, but her name just wouldn't come to mind.

"General O'Neill, Lt. Colonel Sheppard, and Dr. McKay," Woolsey said as every gathered around the table, "I would like to introduce Dr. Carl Strom, Colonel Pavel Krupin, and Lt. Colonel Lydia Barkova."

When he said her name a bell rang in John's head, reminding him of the SG-2 leader. He's never talked to her personally or ever been on a mission with her, but he's heard nothing but good things about her. Strong, confident, a great leader. Even General O'Neill liked her, which was a big thing since she was Russian.

They all sat and General O'Neill starts the discussion.

"So, Dr. Strom, why are we here?"

"Well, General, as you know, Atlantis has been on Earth for about 15 months now. Everyone has been waiting for our answer on whether the city is going back to the Pegasus Galaxy. We've come to a decision I think everyone can agree on."

Everyone holds their breath as Strom makes a pause.

"Atlantis will be going back to the Pegasus Galaxy," Rodney and John started smiling, "but there are some conditions of course."

"Conditions?" John asks, his smile turning into a frown.

"Yes Colonel, only a few." He said, pulling out a paper.

"Of course there are conditions." McKay says under his breath for only John to hear.

"First, Mr. Woolsey will be back in command of Atlantis. Second, you're first priority when you return to Pegasus is to find a ZPM for use on Earth."

"A ZedPM?" Rodney said. "You're joking, right? That could take forever! Not to mention the fact that Atlantis runs on them!"

"Rodney," John said, trying to make him be quiet, even though he did have a point.

"First of all, Dr. McKay, this is a condition of Pegasus leaving Earth. So unless you want to stay here, I would suggest you comply with what we ask. Second, since Atlantis is Earth's last line of defense, we will need a ZPM for our new control chair."

"New control chair?" John asked.

"Yes. As you know, the original chair from Antarctica was destroyed by the ZPM powered hive ship. This was not a problem because we then had Atlantis for defense. But when talks of returning to Pegasus began, we knew we had to find another line of defense before we could even consider it. That is when Zelenka thought of the idea of somehow using the chair from Proclarush Taonas."

"Zelenka?" Rodney asked.

"Yes, McKay," Strom said, "you were too busy having adventures on SG-4, so Zelenka became lead scientist. Anyway, the team of scientists not only found a way to safely take the chair back to Earth but also stumbled upon some ZPMs. Three and a half of them."

"A half?"

"One was half depleted when the found it. It was decided that three of them would go on Atlantis for the journey back and the half would stay with us for use in the chair until you procure another."

Strom took a breath and returned his eyes to the paper.

"Atlantis will have a mandatory day of rest once a month. Teams will now be made up of five members instead of four for extra security. Every country in the International Oversight Advisory must have military personnel in Atlantis if they choose to."

Strom looked over the paper and at John, waiting for an objection. John sat up straight and said nothing. He didn't care what country the people under him were from, as long as they listened to him as their commander.

"Lastly, Lt. Colonel Sheppard will be sharing the title and responsibilities of military leader with Lt. Colonel Barkova."

Strom gestured toward Barkova, a small smirk playing on her lips. John's mouth fell agape slightly.

"You will have to consult each other before any military instruction is made, unless one of you is incapacitated at the moment."

"Why is this happening?" John finally spit out.

"To tell you the truth, not many other countries were happy with some of the decisions you made. They feel they need an international military representation in Atlantis. You should be happy Sheppard, they want to get rid of you entirely, but Woolsey fought for you to stay."

John scowled, giving a thankful nod to Woolsey.

"What, Sheppard? Are you angry you won't have all the power now?" Barkova asked.

John was surprised. He was waiting for a thick Russian accent to come out of the woman, but a slight accent only came out with a few words.

"No, I just wonder if you'll be able to handle Pegasus." John said smugly. He instantly regretted because of the look he got from everyone but Rodney.

"I was a pilot in the Russian Air Force until 2002 when I was in talks to replace Daniel Jackson and become part of SG-1. When that didn't happen, I was assigned to SG-4 along with other Russians. About year later I was reassigned to the Prometheus as an F-302 pilot under Colonel Cameron Mitchell. After the Battle of Antarctica, I was promoted to Major and was supposed to go on the mission to Atlantis but was reassigned as the leader of SG-2." She took a breath, a bit of annoyance in her voice. "Since then I have helped defeat the Goa'uld, Replicators, and the Ori and have been promoted to Lt. Colonel. I think I can handle it."

John and Lydia stared each other down. Strong, confident, a great leader – that's what others said about her, but they left out one thing: competitive.

"Well," Strom cleared his throat, "there is one more thing I should tell you. You two should learn to get a long because the IOA has decided that you will be one the same team."

"Excuse me?" Lydia said snapping her eyes to Strom. "You said I would have a team of my own."

"Yes, well," Strom cleared his throat again, as if he was scared of Barkova, "I discussed this with the board but they thought it would be better for the two of you to work together and become a team, especially if you'll be in joint command. They did agree to discuss the option to have a team of your own in a few months."

Lydia sat back in her chair in defeat. The room fell silent, everyone looking at each other.

"Well," General O'Neill said clasping his hands together, "If there's nothing else, I would like to get some lunch."

"Actually, General, there is one more thing." Woolsey said. "We have to decide what is going to happen to Todd."

Todd, the Wraith who had helped them multiple times. But how could they ever fully trust him? He was still a Wraith after all.

"He should come back with us." John said.

"Why?"

"He's been a valuable ally."

"He also helped destroy the Midway station, stole ZPMS, and hijacked the Daedalus."

"But he's also the reason we're even here. He was the one that warned us about the ZPM powered Hive Ship."

John couldn't believe he was defending Todd. But the Wraith had been a life saver in the past and could be in the future.

"How do we know he'll even be allowed back into Wraith society?"

"We don't, but if he isn't then the Wraith will just kill him themselves."

Woolsey and Strom looked at each other and Strom nodded.

"Fine," Strom said, "you can have the Wraith. Now all we need is for you all to sign this paper agreeing on these terms."

Strom pushed forward the paper he read from. All the other countries in the IOA had already signed. There were three lines at the bottom meant for Woolsey, Sheppard, McKay, and General O'Neill.

That was it, they signed away their future. Atlantis was returning home.


A/N: Hey everyone! Thanks for reading my first chapter, I hope you keep reading. I always have little notes after chapters, including where the title of the chapter came from. I also explain the story title below, too.
I'll be setting up a list of my OCs and their descriptions on my profile page. I don't want anyone to forget who someone is then have to go looking through the story for them.
Also, anyone who draws fan art, wants a part in my story and wants a link to their deviantart page in my notes every chapter - message me. All I ask is that you draw some of my characters they way you think they look or some scenes of my story, I always thought that would be cool.

"we could be heroes, just for one day" - Heroes by David Bowie (I used it as a way to show that the people who live in Atlantis are just regular people who like to have fun and be with each other, but some days they have to be heroes.)

"in defense of our dreams" - Kings and Queens by 30 Seconds to Mars