"The Prodigal Son" by K.M. Anderson
Summary: "Jeremy Sheppard has not thought about his son for many years now." A confusing little AU-ish ficlet.
Rating: K/Angry Green Wombat
Spoilers: Siege II
Disclaimer: "Stargate Atlantis" belongs to SciFi and whoever else it belongs to. But Jeremy's all mine!
A/N: Many thanks to Neth and gundamnymph, who forced me to get off my bum and post my first SGA fic!
Jeremy Sheppard has not thought about his son for many years now. It is hard for a father not to think about his child if he has some decency left in him, but it can be done, just as it has been done for centuries by fathers who disagreed with their sons. But this morning, his son is all he can think about. They have not talked to each other for twenty years now, and he can't imagine how Johnny has turned out. All he remembers of his son is the scruffy hair permeated with electric blue hair dye and torn jeans, and hands - hands that were always covered in glue from putting together model airplanes. Jeremy can't remember his son's face because he has thrown out every photo with John in it twenty years ago. He remembers that John had gone more after his mother – tall and thin, with dark hair and a face that was almost girlish. Nothing like his father or brothers – they are short and stocky and blonde, Mike and Pete looking like younger versions of their old man. Jeremy wonders what Johnny is up to now. Is he a teacher? A druggie dead in some alley? A pilot? What did he want to be so many years ago? Jeremy can't remember this as well. The two younger boys have gone into nice, respectable occupations - Mike has followed in his old man's footsteps and joined the Army, and Pete is a minister. They are married, and Pete has a little girl, Amy. Is John married or not? Jeremy tries to push away this flood of thoughts and can't, because he feels like what happened twenty years ago was his fault, and the not knowing gnaws at his mind. He turns on his computer, and ignoring the arthritis, searches for the name that has been taboo in the house for many years. It takes him hours to get through all the 30-something John Sheppards, but at last, he finds the right one, and he is at once everything and nothing he expected. The man whose picture he is looking at is not blue-haired Johnny anymore, he is Major Sheppard the decorated fighter pilot. Jeremy studies the official photographs, sees that the Major quirks his mouth a little bit to the right when he smiles,and remembers that Johnny's mother used to smile exactly the same way. Jeremy looks at the Major's smiling and still strangely boyish face and hopes that he will agree to talk to Johnny's father, so they both can understand how a fight over dirty gym shoes in the kitchen has bloomed into a twenty-year rift. He calls the Air Force, and manages to locate the last AFB the Major has been assigned to, but the impersonal voice on the other end of the line tells him that Major is on aspecial assignment, and no, he is not expected back any time soon, and yes, his assignment is confidential. Jeremy wonders if something is telling him to forget about his son again, and he tries. He watches the news, has a meager dinner and goes to bed, and his thoughts are once again of lawns and bingo night and the meeting with some old Army buds next month. That night, sleep comes quickly for a change, and Jeremy dreams of an endless sea and an endless sky, and he dreams of the Major, still and stern at the controls of a funny-looking plane. He dreams of more strangely shaped, huge planes, blue and red dots on the sky, and his dream ends with a white flash, and everything is no more.
