Author's Notes: No beta, so please forgive my mistakes. Comments = love. I'm hoping to keep the parts coming this quickly. Fingers crossed my muse stays interested.
Disclaimer: These are not my characters, I just play with them. No copyright infringement intended.
Part 2
Teyla realized very quickly that there was no point in trying to do any work or anything really. So, she paced. When her room was no longer big enough, she moved into passage and then found herself wondering aimlessly through out Atlantis.
She had been told that the time would fly by, that she would wonder where the years went. She had experienced nothing like this. She could count each day for the last five years one by one. They were long and painful and the nights were even worse. It had been for his protection. She had killed Michael; she had thought they were safe. They had been a family.
Others had taken Michael's place. John had said, "Same problems, different day." But he had been wrong. The new leaders of Michael's faction lacked much of his intelligence and all of the connection he had shared with Teyla. They came to Atlantis again and again and every time their goal had been her son. In the last battle, Kannan had been killed along with twelve Athosians and twenty-six Atlantis personnel. There were quiet talks of a traitor, that the attackers knew Atlantis' weaknesses too well.
She decided the only way to protect her child was to hide him away, to make him a face in the crowd on a nameless planet. She could not go with him. Her face was known. She needed to stay and fight; she needed to be a barrier between her child and those who sought him. She lost everything in a few weeks. Her partner, her love, and then her child, her sweet little boy who looked so much like her.
She was the only person in the universe who knew where he was hidden, apart from Petre. Nothing, no amount of torture, nothing would force her to reveal the local. Until now.
Petre was not Athosian, but had transplanted to Athos with his father when he was a boy. He had grown up with Teyla's father and had become one of the elders in the community. Teyla trusted him and he obviously did not have the share the unusual dark features that the Athosians had.
The leaders who replaced Michael had been dead for a year; a young scientist from Hoff supposedly helping with the research was found to be the traitor around the same time. John told her she didn't need to wait so long. Ronon told her she didn't need to wait so long. So did Rodney, Jennifer, Carson, Sam, and countless others. Still she had waited. There was no power struggle. No one rose to power. One whole year. At long last, she decided it was time.
Despite everyone's urging, she did not simply go and get him. She still did not want his identity revealed outside the safety of Atlantis. She asked for a team to be sent and bring him home. And that is what had been done. That was what she was waiting for.
She found her way back to her quarters for the fifth time. She checked that everything was prepared. The room next door was ready for him. Most of the items where standard issue, except for a small blanket spread out on top of the comforter. It had been her son's when he was baby. There was also a picture of Kannan on the desk. It was the only one.
She smoothed out the perfectly flat blanket again. She moved back into her room. There was a palette on the floor piled with traditional Athosian bed covering.
Her son would have his choice. She did not know how he would react to being back in Atlantis. She worried he would not remember her. He could be close, or he could be next door. She would prefer the former, but she would let him choice. Either way Petre had been assigned a room down the hall. He would be the only face her son was sure to know.
Had he been safe all these years? Had he been happy? Had there been a culling? She had absolutely no contact with anyone on the planet. Anything could have happened in five years.
She began her walking again, the way she had when he was a baby. Her feet took her to the command. John was there, standing by the control panel with his arms behind his back.
"Hey," he said in a gentle sort of way when she stopped beside him.
She smiled at him.
"Are you excited?"
She nodded and then shrugged.
"Why the shrug?"
Teyla found her voice. "What if he doesn't remember me? Or worse, what if he remembers and hates me for abandoning him?"
"He's not going to hate you. You have to stop thinking you abandoned him. You gave up everything to protect him."
"It does not really feel that way."
He pulled her into a hug. "Teyla, c'mon. You know that's not true."
She pulled away and smiled. No one had a chance to say anything else. There was a rumble and gate began to spin.
"You ready?" asked John.
Teyla held out a shaking hand in front of her in response. He gave her a one-armed hug.
A voice crackled over the speakers, "Colonel, we have the package and we are coming threw."
John tapped the button on the console. "Go ahead, Lieutenant."
It was hours before Petre returned. He busted into the house, startling Torren, Jessica and the baby. He was practically dancing. He pulled Torren into a hug.
"I am sorry I was angry before. All is well."
"What's happened? Was it truly Atlantis?" asked Jessica, quieting her crying daughter.
"It was most certainly was Atlantis and they are going to give us a lift home."
"What does that mean?" Torren asked. "Our home was destroyed by the Wraith."
"It is a complicated story. I will explain in a moment. We need to pack."
Jessica was just staring at them with an open mouth. "You're leaving."
He bounded over and planted a kiss on her cheek. "We are. Thank you for everything."
They returned to the small house they had been living in and gathered their few belonging. It was mostly clothes and Petre's collection of carving tools. Torren changed into the newest and cleanest his shirt he had. Then, he stood there and waited for the Petre.
He was talking quickly to himself. "The rod is broken. We are going home. The team carried a most precious message. Words that I never thought I would here. The rod is broken."
He finally stomped his foot. "What does that mean?"
"Athos was culled, but I have never told you where the survivors move. They went to Atlantis and started a new life. And we get to go back. The rob has been broken," Petre said.
"What does that mean?" repeated Torren, not really able to believe what he was being told.
"It is a special phrase that means the danger has passed. We get to go home. It is a message from your mother," Petre said and did a little dance.
"My mother? Truly?"
"Yes, my boy!" He pulled Torren into his gnarled arms again. "I hated those passages at first, but I have never been so excited at the merely thought of a place. You, my boy, have only known those passages."
Torren had a brief flash of what he now understood as a passage. A long, dim, enclosed space with doors lining either side.
"We are going home?" he asked.
"Yes, Torren, and you will see your mother. She is waiting."
Torren found he could not stand any longer. He sat down on the hard floor.
"Torren? Are you all right?" asked Petre.
He tried to answer, but started crying instead. He allowed himself less than a minute and then stood up again and wiped his tears away with a single hand. "I want to go home," he said.
Petre reached over and affectionately shook Torren's shoulder. "Then let's go home."
Then, side by side, they walked to Stargate.
The crowd was still gathered around the stargate. Only three of the four team members were standing nearby. The crowd started open mouthed as Petre marched to the platform. He reached out and shook the hand of one of them members. It was gesture Torren had never seen before.
"Torren, this is Lieutenant Carlson. He will be escorting to Atlantis and then home," said Petre with a sly smile.
The man with the dark skin looked down at Torren. "It's good to meet you, kid. There are some people who are going to be very happy to see you." He looked back Petre. "We weren't sure what we were going to find here."
"All is well as to expected. Can we get going? I do not wish to keep her waiting any longer."
"It would have nothing to do with your desire to be back in Atlantis again?"
"Of course not," said Petre with a broad smile.
"We're just waiting for Evans."
They continued talking about things and people Torren did not know or understand. He didn't know if he wanted to go or not. It had been such a long time. What if his mother did not recognize him? What if she did not like who he was? What if he wasn't strong enough?
At long last, the four team member returned. Petre put a hand on Torren's shoulder again.
"Anyone you want to say goodbye to?" quietly asked Petre.
Torren scanned the crowd and found Marcy's thin face. He gave her a small wave. She smiled back and waved back.
"I'm ready," said Torren most confidently than he felt.
The Stargate engaged with a loud rush and a flash of blue light.
Lieutenant Carlson tapped a little box attached to his uniform. "Colonel, we have the package and we are coming through."
A voice answer, "Go ahead, Lieutenant."
With Petre's hand still on his shoulder, Torren stepped towards the water-like surface.