Disclaimer: I own none of the Stargate franchise.

This was for Maffieg's birthday, February 28th.


Spoils of War:

Ronon was firing at the Wraith; they where closing in on them.

Finally, Sheppard gave the order. Ronon fired some last shots while backing up, and took down a few more Wraith. Then he followed the others, sprinting towards the jumper.

xxxxx

John was running as fast as he could. Ronon was covering their rear, making sure they would not be caught off guard by the Wraith coming up behind them.

Rodney was in the middle. He could not keep up much longer.

To John's relief, they had reached the jumper.

He disengaged the cloak and lowered the rear hatch. Sitting down in the pilot's chair, he activated the systems.

He heard Ronon call for him to leave, indicating that the rear hatch had closed.

John didn't hesitate a moment longer. He wanted to get back to the hive ship as soon as possible.

Teyla had taken a huge risk by entering the Queen's mind. He was worried not only for her, but also for her child. Who knew how this could harm the fetus.

She had to be ok. He willed himself to think positive. How could he live with himself if she was hurt?

Hurt – because of him. He had allowed her to come along on this mission. Had that been a terrible mistake?

Rodney's voice brought his mind back to the present. "What?" he asked.

"Shouldn't we radio them? Let them know we're coming?" Rodney repeated.

John mentally kicked himself for not focusing, and nodded. "Right, yeah."

He activated his radio and called Lorne and Teyla.

Teyla's response came almost immediately, urging him to hurry up.

She sounded alright. He only hoped that she truly was unharmed.

Focusing on her words, he thought for a moment, and an idea came to him.

He asked Teyla to change course, and explained his plan.
She did as he asked right away, even before he had explained it all.

That brought a smile to his face. Trust was always evident within their team, no questions asked.

xxxxx

Sitting in the jumper, watching the wraith facility being destroyed, John felt relieved, plus victorious for winning this battle against such a powerful enemy.

Yet there was still something nagging at him.

Teyla.

She seemed just fine… although he could see the worry in her eyes. She tried her best not to show it, but that wouldn't work with him or Ronon for that matter, but maybe McKay.

He would get her back as fast as possible, so that Keller could check her over.

xxxxx

He noticed Teyla standing on the balcony.

John decided to go out and talk to her. There was a possibility that she'd ask him to leave, because she wanted to be alone. But he'll risk it because she seemed so troubled standing out there on the balcony alone. She needed someone to talk to, someone to comfort her. Her people were missing, and he wanted to be there for her and he wanted to take care of her.

John went out on the balcony, and she turned to face him.

He asked if she had gone to see Keller. And she had, everything was alright, physically.

Relief and happiness filled his heart upon hearing such good news. He could tell that she was relieved too, but there was something else as well.

Guilt.

She felt guilty for exposing her child to the mind of a killer, even before he had opened his eyes on this world.

Wait – he?

Teyla told him that it was a boy. And he felt… proud. He wasn't sure why, but he did.

She also told him that he was right. She now understood why he had refused to allow her to go on missions.

Teyla really did understand his concerns for her well being. And he was glad for that.

Then she told him how close the Wraith Queen had come to extinguishing the life of her son.
And that he had pulled the trigger at exactly the right time.

Her eyes filling with tears, she stepped forward, and pulled him into a hug.

John hugged her back, happy to comfort her in these difficult times.
He closed his eyes, cherishing this moment.

Teyla loosened her grip, but he didn't let go of her right away. She meant so much to him, and it hurt to see her upset like this.

John finally pulled back. She smiled at him, and thanked him.

He smiled back, nodding.

She turned to leave, but he called her name, and offered to go get something to eat together.

She smiled gratefully at him.

He stepped forward and held out his arm, grinning. She raised her eyebrows, but hooked her arm inside his anyway.

She ducked her head, trying to hide her smile. She always tried hard not to show her emotions on the outside.

Little did she know, that he could see straight through her diplomatic mask. Not that he would ever tell her that, obviously. It was much more fun this way.

The End.

Thanks for reading!