--

For the first month after she returned to New Athos Teyla worked harder than she ever had in her entire life. She cut down trees, built new tents, harvested like the winter would be rushing in tomorrow to destroy it all. She knew she was trying to stay busy, but that did not stop the need. She worked from when she opened her eyes at sunrise to when she all but collapsed into her bed at night.

The furious whirlwind she had become dimmed slightly by the second month, her energy fadied from the high demands she had been making on herself. So she took to taking long walks by herself, checking the new rope bridges, setting up look out huts on the edges of their new home and pushing out to explore further.

She lived in her own cocoon of emotion yet trying not to feel too much. She missed him like her heart was on fire. She dreamt of him every night, and her mind lingered on the memories of their last few days together. She had so enjoyed her time on Earth with him, despite the circumstances and his state. They had felt like a real married couple again; standing beside each other in the shops, at the funeral and lying beside each other at night. And it had opened up the memories of long ago; of when things had been so good between them. When they had laughed, shared and held each other.

Many times she considered returning to Earth to visit him, but it was unlikely they would let her loose on Earth alone. She had composed several letters to him, which remained shut away in her bedside table. In them she told him how much she loved him and missed him and how she hoped he was finding some peace again.

All these lost thoughts and feelings and the desperate need to pass the days with work or walking meant that it took her over two months to realise she was pregnant.

She had cried with joy when she realised. She had even been feeling rather sick in the mornings and hadn't realised the importance, so self centred on her emotions had she been. The camp's midwife confirmed the pregnancy for her and she had returned to her tent full of sudden purpose. John was going to be a father and he needed to know. They were going to have a child together. The midwife had warned her that she needed to take things carefully for another month to be sure, but Teyla already knew the child would be strong.

It gave her purpose and sudden justification to interrupt his self imposed isolation. She contacted Atlantis that afternoon and asked that a message be sent to John on Earth saying that she needed to speak to him. Rodney and Doctor Weir were full of curious unspoken questions, but she did not tell them or even hint at the reason why she needed to see him. She guessed they thought she missed him and wanted to see him. They were right, but now it was for so much more. She did not tell them the truth, as it was only fair that John be the first to know.

A month passed and she heard nothing back. Atlantis had undergone another attack from the Wraith, but had successfully defended herself, though the ZPM had been further drained. Consequently they were only contacting Earth every couple of weeks from now onwards. When they were able Doctor Weir sent her request through once again, and two weeks later came back the report that no one was sure where John was. They knew he had been planning to stay in the Rockies, but that was apparently a massive mountain range. They could not track down the friend of his that owned the cabin either. And besides the SGC had its own problems and daily trials that meant her innocuous request was not high up on their list of priorities.

Teyla had suggested that they may be able to locate him by his tracking beacon, but apparently there wasn't a space ship available and again it was not high up on their priorities. They reported that they would keep trying to locate him, but could not promise anything. They recommended that she may have to wait till his six month leave was up to speak with him.

That had angered her. She waited another couple of weeks after that last report, her pregnancy now at four months and her small bump was now visible to others. She had had enough. So knowing that Atlantis were planning to send their next report to Earth that day; she told her people she was leaving to find him herself if she had to. They all appeared very supportive, which had surprised her as many had not approved of her marriage originally. Maybe they had seen how sad and lonely she had been and her renewed determination now that she was with child.

She had dressed carefully to hide the small but obvious bump behind a large closed coat. Once she was told she was safe to walk through she stepped through the Stargate and into the familiar gate room. Doctor Weir was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs. Teyla knew already that they had heard nothing from Earth by the expression on her face.

They embraced warmly.

"Teyla it is good to see you. You look very well." Elizabeth said.

"Thank you Elizabeth, as do you." Though in truth she looked tired, but that was normal for those living in Atlantis. Some things never change…and some things did. She found herself oddly happy that she fell into the later category as she followed Elizabeth up to her office.

"Rodney will be upset that he missed you. He is out on a mission with his new team."

Teyla couldn't help but smile. "He rejected the latest team then?"

"I think it was a mutual rejection." Elizabeth replied with a smile, but Teyla could tell that she was tired of dealing with the difficult Rodney and his team issues.

Rodney had continued to visit Teyla on New Athos several times a month if he could and she had been surprised and touched at his continuing efforts to keep in contact with her. She valued his friendship and felt a little guilty at not telling him about her pregnancy, but she worried he might not have been able to keep it a secret.

"We've heard from Ronon again." Elizabeth reported as they sat down. "His little army is not so little anymore. He made contact with a new race of people who have space capabilities so the army is now fully mobile."

"Really?" Teyla asked impressed. She felt so proud of Ronon and regretted once again losing contact with him.

"He asked me to send you his love and he gave me a rather massive hug to pass onto you."

Teyla couldn't help but laugh in delight at the image of the slim doctor receiving a rib cracking Ronon hug. She was so glad he had not forgotten about her.

"He said once this last mission is over he will make time to visit you."

Teyla nodded, pleased. "You have not heard anything from John." Teyla said, already knowing the answer.

"I'm afraid not, Teyla. The SGC have looked into it, but to be honest I think your request has simply gone through to the administration people now who can only do so much for you. We can send another message today if you wish with the bi weekly reports."

Teyla had suspected as much, but she could feel her friend's desire to help her. "Could you send me?" Teyla asked.

Elizabeth was obviously surprised at the suggestion and her eyes fell to the large bag sat on Teyla's lap, which Teyla was actually using to cover her stomach. "Send you?"

"If I am there in person then they can not ignore me so easily." Teyla explained with a soft smile.

Elizabeth tilted her head in acknowledgement. "I agree, but I'm not sure they would want me to send you through without prior permission."

"That could take until the next bi weekly report." Teyla replied. She sighed. "I am still technically John's wife; does that not make me partly a citizen of Earth?"

Elizabeth smiled in acknowledgment again. "That is how it works between countries on Earth, but I can't say that has ever been applied to this situation. But, then you and John have the first inter-galactic marriage." Teyla felt proud of that fact. "I suppose you could be right. But still I don't know how much you will manage to get done and you may be stuck on Earth for several weeks if the next report is late."

Teyla disregarded that concern with a wave of her hand, she was planning to stay on Earth until she found John and maybe longer if necessary. "That does not matter. I need to speak to him, see him if I can."

Elizabeth regarded her closely for several silent moments. "Teyla, I understand that things have been difficult between you two, but John wanted time alone. Maybe you could wait another two months?"

Teyla sighed and realised she was going to have to share her secret. She stood up, dropping her bag to the floor and opened her coat revealing her stomach. "I am carrying John's child, Elizabeth, and he does not know it."

The doctor's eyes dropped to Teyla's belly. "Teyla!" She looked up at her with wide eyes. A bright smile blossomed over her face as she stood, but so were the questions; was she happy to be pregnant? Teyla smiled at her in return, suddenly very happy to have told someone outside of her people. Elizabeth came around her desk and hugged Teyla again, with so much feeling that it surprised Teyla. "Congratulations."

"Thank you." Teyla whispered.

"We'll send you to Earth then." She said determined now for Teyla. "I will ask permission to send through some personnel that should work. But, you may have to argue your case on the other end."

"No problem." Teyla responded. There wasn't a single person on Earth who would get in her way to find John. She would not rest until she spoke to him, preferably see him. She only hoped that it didn't take until her child was born to find him.

"We are not scheduled to contact Earth for another three hours. Maybe you would like Carson to check you over, perhaps give you a scan?" Elizabeth suggested.

The thought was appealing to Teyla. She was sure the child was strong and had felt it moving very slightly last week. But, it would put her mind at ease to have Carson check her and she enjoyed the thought of including more of her friends in the news. And John would be happy to hear that she had seen Carson. "I think I will take you up on that offer."

"And maybe if there is time we could have lunch together before you leave?" Elizabeth asked.

"I would like that too."

--

A little over three hours later Teyla waited for the go-ahead to walk through the shimmering gate. Carson had given her permission to travel and had given her and her child a clean bill of health. He had even looked slightly tearful as he had handed over the tiny picture of the scan of her child.

Rodney had returned from his mission and had joined her and Elizabeth for the end of their lunch. He did seem a little upset to hear that she hadn't told him about her pregnancy. He had promised to keep it a secret now, but had asked if he could tell Ronon next time they spoke. She gave him permission and he brightened up. It had been a lovely meal and she had felt so welcomed by her friends that it brought back so many happy memories.

Those memories gave her the fuel and determination to step through to Earth and demand that she be able to see her husband. Rodney called down to her that the report had been sent and permission for her to walk through had been given by the SGC. She nodded up to them in farewell and stepped through the event horizon.

The dull metallic gate room of Earth appeared around her and the mechanically recycled air of the underground base met her nostrils. She prayed she was not going to have to remain in the SGC too long. She already missed the wide open spaces of New Athos.

The soldiers on duty looked surprised by her arrival and she looked up to see General Landry raise his eyebrows at her through the glass window. The gate shut down behind her and she felt a burst of confidence; she had made it here finally.

She was escorted up to the meeting room and this time she made no attempt to hide her stomach; she knew this would be the way to insist on her request. She pulled off her coat and laid it across the back of a chair as the General entered.

"Teyla. It is good to see you again." He offered his hand and as they shook hands his eyes fell to her belly. "I take it you are here to try and find your husband." His eyes were kind, and held a kindness she appreciated.

"Yes, I thought I could help locate him and hopefully visit him."

The General waved her over to a seat and sat down next to her. "Am I to take it that he needs to hear some rather pressing news?" His eyes dropped to her stomach again.

"Yes." She rubbed a hand over her belly. "I have been trying to get a message to him for over two months now and I thought my being here may help."

He nodded. "I see. Well, I can understand that you need to see him."

"And I am his wife." She pushed.

He nodded again, a light smile on his lips. She liked this leader of the SGC. "As I understand it we have tried to locate him, but no one knows where he is staying. He was recommended to see a psychologist every two weeks, but we can't locate him through them, as it would break doctor-patient confidentiality for them to even tell us he was a patient of theirs. He was supplied with a list of recommended doctors but we haven't been billed by that doctor yet and may not until his treatment is over. We ran out of options at that point."

"Has his brother heard from him?"

"He said he has spoken to Colonel Sheppard several times on the phone, but the Colonel always phoned him and they never spoke of exactly where he was staying. He apparently had to wait to be at a town large enough to phone. We told his brother that we had mail for the Colonel and were wondering where to send it. If it helps he subtly reported that the Colonel was doing better."

The news that John was in regular contact with his brother really pleased her and to also hear that he was better was hopeful. "Thank you." She said, knowing the General had not needed to tell her that information and that he had obviously looked into the issue for her.

The General looked thoughtful for a moment. "Doctor Weir said you suggested using his beacon signal to find him. We don't have a ship in orbit to do that, but I wonder if Doctor Lee may have another way to find him."

A flare of hope made her smile.

"I will speak to him, but first I would appreciate it if you were checked over by the Doctor here first."

"Doctor Beckett has just given me a full scan." She handed over the letter Carson had given her, predicting she would be delayed by such tests. The General took the letter with a nod.

"Very well. Let's go see what Doctor Lee is up to."

--

TBC