Twisted Reality

Alternate ending for Home

"So none of this is real? The cute brunette, of course, I should have known! How do you go from, 'You're a pig, but I like your cat,' to, 'I missed you?'" McKay asked, rolling his eyes in disbelief.

"We lacked a sophisticated understanding of your world. As a result, the illusions we created from your thoughts were ultimately flawed." The Hammond look alike said without emotion, staring from Elizabeth to John.

"The dead people were a dead giveaway." John said, shaking his head, as the others stared at him in incredulity.
"Dead people? What were you doing?!" Rodney asked frowning.
"If you'd just told us, maybe we could ..." Elizabeth began.

"Woah, wait. I just realised something. You're saying that our unconscious bodies are still on the planet." Rodney stopped, hand waving toward 'Hammond'.
The fake Hammond cocked his head slightly to the side. "Yes."
McKay stepped forward. "Yeah, well, so, we need food, we need water, I mean, we need food."
Sheppard, catching on, stepped closer. "What he's saying is we won't live long in this state."
Hammond stared at the group, before turning to walk out.

"Then I suggest you make the most of the time you have left."

He disappeared in a bright flash of light, leaving the group alone on the Stargate ramp.

"Well. That went well." Rodney said, shaking his head in slight denial.

Elizabeth stared at John for a second, before turning to Rodney.

"How long do you think we have?"

McKay shook his head;

"Days at most. With no food and water, we won't last long on the surface."

Lowering her head in sadness, Elizabeth breathed in deeply.

"We have to try and convince them to let us go." Elizabeth said with determination.

Looking around, John stepped off the ramp as the others spoke, reaching his hand out. The others stopped and watched him.

"Might as well make our time at least nice while we're here, right?" He asked, shutting his eyes in concentration.

Suddenly the gate room faded, for a second they were floating in darkness before the ground began to change and twist, it splashed out in yellow, became squishy underfoot. Waves in blue crashed into the yellow and the mangled, forming a beach. Several pal trees and beach chairs materialized and John smiled.

"That's better."

They looked around, Teyla, Aiden and Weir settled on beach chairs, watching the waves crash in, while Aiden and John found several surf boards awaiting their attention.

"We really should be trying to convince them to let us go…" Elizabeth said sleepily as John and Ford walked past holding their boards. "It is a matter of life and death…"

John grinned.

"We'll worry about life and death tomorrow. For now, enjoy Earth for once."

But the memory of Atlantis and their responsibilities had begun to fade, the day spent at the beach and the night spent sleeping in tents on the sand had begun to eat away at the memory of Atlantis, which was now just a shadow hovering in the perfect horizon.

Elizabeth Weir woke in the morning with the feeling that she was forgetting something extremely important, but as she saw John sleeping soundly beside her pushed it to the back of her mind. She ran a light hand through his hair and his eyes flickered open, staring at her. They were silent as the sound of waves crashing into the sand entered their minds. They were entranced.

John sat up slightly, and Elizabeth felt her heart skip several beats. He gently placed a hand behind her neck, and pulled her gently towards him and butterflies suddenly invaded her stomach. Their first kiss was gentle, John pulled back to gauge her reaction. Elizabeth smiled at the care he was taking and leaned back down, kissing him again.

She felt like everything had just slid into place. Her destiny was to be with John. That annoying fly spot in her memory finally sunk out of sight, and she realised she wanted to live here for ever.

The smell of fire reached Teyla's ears as she lay awake in her tent she was sharing with Elizabeth. Elizabeth's sleeping bag was now empty of it's occupant, her things were spread out over the tent, none of which Teyla knew their function. She carefully opened the tent and followed the smell with her eyes until she noticed McKay and Aiden sitting around a large fire pit in the sand, a flames licking slightly over the side. Both men held bottles of beer, and Rodney was prodding the flames with a long metal stick.

"Teyla." Aiden said, noticing her as she clambered into the sunlight.

Teyla nodded in greeting, noticing Elizabeth was not anywhere in sight.

"Have either of you seen Doctor Weir in this first light?" She asked, staring at the waves.

Rodney shook his head in silent laughter, pointing toward Major Sheppard's tent.

"Last time I saw her she was sleep walking. She walked her way into his tent. Haven't seen her since."

Teyla frowned.

"I am unfamiliar with this expression. Sleep-walking?"

"It means," Ford explained, handing Teyla a beer, "when a person is asleep, but dreaming. It sometimes makes people walk around and act out their dream."

"I used to sleep walk," McKay explained, "I dreamed about walking to the store once and buying chocolate, well, when I woke up, I had unlocked the front door and walked into the street wearing my PJ's."

At Teyla's slightly puzzled stare, McKay explained,

"What you wear to sleep at night."

Nodding with understanding, Teyla twisted the cap off the beer and took a small swallow, watching the sun slowly rise towards the clouds.

It was almost ten thirty Earth time when Elizabeth and John scrambled out of the tent, blearily looking around the camp site. McKay and Ford had served hot food a while before, including 'snags' as Ford called them and fish. The breakfast was unusual compared to the one always eaten on Atlantis, but Teyla enjoyed it all the same.

Now, as they all sat on logs around the fire, Teyla decided to bring up what the others seemed to have forgotten.

"Should we not be finding a way to get back to Atlantis and reality?" She asked in the comfortable silence. She was aware of the way Elizabeth and John were sitting on the same log, holding hands.

McKay stared at her.

"Atlantis? The lost city? I think you've read to many Earth stories Teyla, Atlantis has been lost forever."

Frowning, Teyla turned to John. "Should we not return Major Sheppard?"

John watched her, a puzzled frown on his face. "I'm a Major? I'm not a Major! I hate the Air Force!"

Now utterly confused, Teyla realised the others were staring at her.

"Then how do you explain us being here?"

Ford spoke.

"I-I don't…don't remember!"

John stood up.

"I remember…I remember nothing!"

As the others began to panic, Teyla spoke loudly.

"But I remember. Why do I remember?"

The others stared.

Realizing they would be of no help without their memories, Teyla thought hard for a moment, only coming up with the answer that she was not from Earth, and had different physiology.

John watched, panicking for a moment that he had no memories. If Teyla was the only one who retained memories, she was the only one who could help them realize who they really were. Growling with frustration, he turned to Elizabeth, wondering if he had a wife he had forgotten about. Feeling woozy at the very thought, he sat down, head in his hands, until a loud thump beside him made him look up.

Elizabeth was lying in the sand beside him.

Unconscious.

Jumping to his feet, and landing on his knees beside her, the others fell silent and watched as he gently turned her over, and brushed the sand lightly from her face.

"Elizabeth?" He asked, taking one of her hands in his and gently shaking her.

A small groan could be heard and she opened her eyes, her free hand gripping her stomach.

"Stomach…" She whispered, "Sore…"

Teyla kneeled on her other side.

"It appears the lack of food and water has begun to affect her."

"What do you mean lack of food and water? We just ate!" Rodney cried out frantically.

Teyla frowned with frustration.

"These are not our real bodies, nor is this your real world! This is a reality fabricated by mist which is holding us captive! Our real bodies are lying unconscious on the planets surface! Without food and water, our real bodies have begun to deteriorate."

Later that night, they had all begun to feel the effects. Although Elizabeth's was still the worst case, the others had begun to feel hunger pains, and no matter how much they ate in this reality, it felt no better.

As they sat in a mansion now, John gently stroked Elizabeth's forehead. She was lying in his arms, wrapped in a blanket. Her forehead was sweat soaked and she was shivering, but John knew there was nothing he could do. He felt small pains in his stomach and throat occasionally, but he put it to the back of his mind. He was sitting on one of the couches around the large fireplace. He had wanted this mansion for the room and it had appeared, a fire was blazing happily in the grate.

McKay was, for once, quiet, as was Ford, as they sat watching the flames in silent contemplation. Teyla had left, gone for a walk a fair while ago, deciding sitting around made her pains worse. None of the others remembered anything about their past life, or 'Atlantis' and neither did John, but he felt it's presence within him. A shadow, just out of sight. He knew it was there, he could almost feel it in his fingertips, but his memory eluded him and it was just out of his reach.

So here they sat, McKay gently nibbling on a chocolate bar, hoping it would quench his hunger, with no avail.

Elizabeth stirred in his arms and John tightened his hold around her, as her eyes fluttered open, filled with pain.

She frowned slightly and John wondered who she was seeing.

"M-Major Sheppard?" She asked, wincing.

John stopped for a minute and just stared.

"Elizabeth?" He asked, as the others scrambled around him to listen in.

"What's going o-on?" She asked, staring at the hand that had not long ago been stroking her forehead.

"I-I don't know." John said in confusion, feeling slightly hurt she was watching him suspiciously.

She glanced left and right, wincing again as another bout of pain flew through her. "We have to talk…t-talk to the mist…"

John frowned.

Suddenly her eyes clapped shut and she was lost once again into the darkness. As John pulled her back into his embrace, a single word changed everything as it slipped from Elizabeth's mouth.

"Simon…"

Then suddenly all the memories came flooding back.

Aiden noticed the posture of John change as Elizabeth's delirious form said 'Simon'. It meant nothing to him, but to John, his eyes suddenly lost their slightly dreamy texture and turned hard as stone. It was frightening to witness. He leant forward and kissed Elizabeth on the forehead, standing up and gently replacing her on the couch.

She moaned slightly in pain, and John visibly winced, taking a step back and walking to the doors.

On the outside of the Mansion, Ford followed his…leader and walked toward Teyla who was sitting on a stone bench.

"Teyla. We have to talk to the mist." John said as he stood beside her. She turned to him.

"I have been trying to attempt contact for the last few hours. There has been no response."

John cocked his head to the side.

"Then we try harder."

Turning toward the mansion itself, he ignored a confused McKay who had followed them out.

"SHOW YOURSELF!" He yelled in his booming voice, startling some 'birds' out of a tree by the doorway. "I WANT TO SPEAK TO YOU!"

And he disappeared in a burst of white – green light.

As the colors flashed by John, he closed his eyes against the cold pain, only to open his eyes when his feet hit solid ground. Everything around him was black, he could see no buildings nor any structures. It wasn't darkness, just…nothing.

Two green eyes appeared in the darkness and John took a step forward.

"Hello." Came a distorted voice, deep and booming. "You wished to speak to me."

As the figure came into view, John gasped.

It was Elizabeth.

"Y-Yes." John stuttered, climbing back from the shock. "I want you to let us go home."

"Home." Came the voice. "You wish to go home."

"Yes." John answered, "Atlantis."

"Your desire is to return to the place you call Earth." The voice said. It wasn't a question.

John nodded.

"Yes it is. But we are just as happy to return to Atlantis if you let us."

"You did not understand then, and you do not understand now. By using the Stargate you kill thousands of our kind. To return your kind to the place of Earth, it would have killed millions of us."

John frowned slightly.

"So let us return to Atlantis. I promise no one from there will ever return. We won't come back. We just want to go home."

"Atlantis?" The voice asked, as Elizabeth's head turned to the side questioningly.

John nodded in earnest.

"All you have to do is let us return to Atlantis and you'll never have to worry about us again. All of us."

The form of Elizabeth frowned.

"I must discuss it with the others."

John took a frustrated step forward.

"We can barely live much longer! Our bodies are dying on the surface! By the time you speak to them, we might all be dead!"

The figure stopped, and thought for a moment.

"I will grant your wish. Should you return, we will not be as lenient."

John nodded.

"Thank you."

Suddenly the world faded, the nothingness was replaced by ground and John found himself lying on the ground. He could barely rise, he felt weak and sick, but as the others stirred around him, he pulled himself to his feet and stumbled to Elizabeth, pulling his meal bar from his vest pocket, he unwrapped it and offered it to her. She was groaning on the ground. He lifted her up by the vest , laying her back on his knees and as she groggily accepted the food and took a small bite, John watched the others. McKay was unwrapping his own food and wolfing it down, while pouring all the contents of his canteen down his throat, Ford was doing something similar, but taking his time.

As Elizabeth drank from his canteen and generally regained some of her strength, John became aware of his own dire hunger. Aware he just gave the last of his food to Elizabeth, and she was drinking all of his water, he decided to get them home as fast as possible.

His stomach groaned as he stood up, helping Elizabeth to her feet. She seemed them to realize she had just eaten all of his food and drunken all of his water. She gasped and began to apologize. John reassured her, using all of his energy to talk to her and to keep his stomach from bringing up the food he had left in there.

He was just glad to see Elizabeth with some colour in her face and no possession thing in her head.

So they waddled off, each one battling the pains that still resided. McKay was looking sickly after eating so much in such a short time, but John didn't have the energy remaining to stop. Instead he plodded on, sighing with relief as Ford dialed Atlantis. McKay pulled out the control crystal as the event horizon splashed out it's rippling surface soothing John's pains slightly as he happily fell through.

Several days later, John stood on the balcony, watching the sea. He had avoided Elizabeth since he had come out of the infirmary two days before, spending most of his time in his quarters or ducking into corridors when he saw her coming by.

The rumors of their little 'journey' still floated around, and although he ignored them, he felt they had a little basis in truth. He still loved Elizabeth.

But he had been too chicken to tell her.

"John?" The voice beside him made him jump, twisting slightly, and causing him to yelp louder, pulling at the stitches on his chest where Carson had done emergency surgery to repair his stomach which had somehow torn without him realizing.

Elizabeth winced beside him, laying her hand awkwardly on his arm until he calmed down. Breathing heavily he watched her from the corner of his eye.

"John…" She began, "We have to talk about what happened." He wincing at the talk that he knew was about to happen.

'John we are leaders of Atlantis. We can't be together.'

'John we're better off friends'

'John we can't be together'

"John I love you" Her words totally threw him off. Turning to face her, his mouth fell open.

"What?" He asked, incredously.

Elizabeth smirked.

"You think I was coming here to tell you we can't be together?"

His mouth opened and closed like a gold fish.

"But…But…What about…Huh?" He blinked.

Smiling, Elizabeth leaned forward and captured his lips in hers.

"I love you, John Sheppard." She said simply as they pulled apart.

John smiled, pulling her into a hug.

"I love you too, Elizabeth Weir."

And little did they see the people cheering as they packed around the balcony door, faces pressed against the glass.

"At least something good came out of this." Ford said as he, Teyla and McKay walked away from the crowd.

McKay snorted.

"Maybe. I would still rather have had food in my stomach then watch those two get all smoochy."

"You have no heart McKay." For said, laughing.

Rodney looked at Teyla.

"I have a heart, it's just reserved for the collection of chocolate bars sitting on my desk." He smiled at Ford, as Teyla shook her head unbelievably.

"Well." Said Rodney, standing tall, "I feel generous. If you two want to join me for Chocolate bars and some of that nice Athosian alcohol later in the mess hall, we can celebrate the happy couple before the celebrate on their own."

Ford smiled as they parted at the corridor.

He would never refuse any food ever again.

Fin