Okay, as promised I have crawled out from under the covers, swallowed my pride, and written a real chapter. Enjoy the Sheyla (without a trace of anything else)! (Especially since it may be awhile until the next one).

Chapter 3

Sheppard encouraged Teyla to sit down in the comfortable chair in Colonel Carter's office. He was surprised when she didn't protest. A few weeks before Teyla had lectured her three teammates about their overprotective behavior.

"I may be pregnant," she had said. "But I am still Teyla." They correctly took that to mean, "I can still easily knock you to the floor. And I will." Even Ronon had backed off.

She must be shocked if she's so willing to sit while the rest of us stand, Sheppard thought.

"What's going on?" Ronon asked as he spun his gun back and forth in his hand. Rodney leaned against the Colonel's desk, arms folded across his chest.

"I believe that I should wait until Colonel Carter arrives," Teyla said. "Then I will tell you as much as I can."

"What do you mean 'as much as you can?'" Rodney asked. "Is this top secret or something?"

"Shut up, Rodney," Sheppard growled.

"Stop telling me to shut up!" Rodney replied. Sheppard realized that it was the third time that day that he had done so. Surprisingly, Rodney listened.

"It is alright, John," Teyla said calmly.

No, it's clearly not, Sheppard thought. You're turning paler by the minute. But instead of saying anything to her, he simply rested a hand on her shoulder. She relaxed a little under his touch and that encouraged Sheppard to pull a chair up beside her and sit down. It was uncomfortable to want to protect her, but not know what from or how. He settled on draping his arm across the back of her chair – not touching her, but trying to be as close as was acceptably possible. He could practically feel Rodney and Ronon staring at him from behind. Ronon in particular seemed to be boring a whole in the back of his head. Sheppard guessed that it was because Ronon seemed to have appointed himself as Teyla's little brother – a role that he took as seriously as his fighting.

"Relax, big guy," he muttered.

"John?" Teyla asked.

"Nevermind." Thankfully Colonel Carter entered the room and Sheppard didn't have to further explain his comment.

"I'm sorry to say that we lost Lyam," she said. "There really wasn't anything that Dr. Keller could do. I wish it could have been different, Teyla." As she sank into her chair Sheppard noticed that she seemed exhausted. He didn't blame her – no matter her impressive background, running Atlantis was a taxing job. "I hope you have some good news for me."

"I am not sure if it is good news," Teyla replied. "At best I have an interesting story."

"Well, let's hear it," Colonel Carter said. She straightened in her chair and regained her normal composure.

"Alright." Teyla sighed almost imperceptibly and Sheppard allowed his thumb to rest against her shoulder. If she noticed, she gave no indication. Sheppard liked to think that he was giving her strength to tell an obviously difficult tale.

"A few years ago my people attempted to form trade relations with the people of Kaliss. We had heard that they were developing a cure for a common ailment among many of the civilizations in our galaxy. In return for knowledge of the cure we were offering crops and seasonal labor. It seemed an ordinary enough negotiation – at first. We were never allowed in the central city, only in a nearby village."

"That seems strange to me," Ronon interrupted.

"Well, yes, I suppose it was. Although we simply assumed that they wanted time to trust us before they would bring us to the city. But we never even got close. In fact, after several weeks of talks and showing them our crops and labor practices they simply asked us to leave their planet and never come back."

"Did you have any idea why?" Colonel Carter asked.

"We had been developing suspicions for awhile. They people of Kaliss had some unusual traits. They knew of the Wraith and had suffered from their attacks in the past, but were no longer afraid of them. They lived in the open – at least those in the village whom we met. Lyam was among them."

"Did they have some sort of shield or something?" asked Rodney. He suddenly looked much more interested in Teyla's story.

"I do not know," Teyla explained. "They would not say. Or rather, they could not say. None of the people in the village had any idea how they were protected. They were told by their leaders that there was nothing to fear and they believed them."

"That seems a little suspicious," Sheppard said.

"Yes," Teyla said. "I thought so too. As did Lyam. He was the one person from Kaliss who would speak openly with me."

I'll bet, Sheppard thought. It wasn't the first time that he had felt jealous about Teyla merely speaking to another man. There had been plenty of nights when he'd lain awake contemplating his feelings for the beautiful Athosian. But with her pregnant he had done his best to simply bury those feelings. That day, however, her wonderful reaction to the nursery and distress over Lyam's death were making it very hard to keep his affection concealed. Without realizing it, he had shifted his arm completely around her shoulder. He jolted it back to the chair and refocused on her story. She was responding to some question that Colonel Carter had asked.

"Lyam was suspicious of the Kaliss Commission – the ruling body. They were the only members of the community who lived in the Central City. Everyone else had a dwelling in one of the outer villages."

"This sounds very diplomatic," Rodney said sarcastically. "Seriously, what was wrong with these people?"

Teyla looked annoyed for the first time that day.

"They are not idiots Rodney, I believe that they were just used to a way of life. Many cultures have a ruling body that has better living quarters than their citizens."

"But still, they clearly didn't have any good idea of what was going on. And it seems like they didn't care. Were they robots?"

"No," Teyla said patiently. "They were not robots. They had everything they needed so they had no reason to complain. But still, Lyam was suspicious. And he had good reason to be. The day that we were asked to leave he brought me to a cave that he had found. There was writing on the wall that he believed to be an ancient form of Kalisian writing. He had translated enough to determine an interesting piece of Kalisian history. Several thousand years ago a Kalisian man witnessed a Wraith attack and survived. He recorded that he saw the Wraith take several hundred ordinary Kalisian citizens. But when a Wraith approached one of the Commission Members it stopped, stared at the man, then simply turned around and walked away."

For a moment everyone in the room was quiet.

"I am not telling a lie," Teyla said, somewhat defensively. "That is what the writing said."

"Or at least what Lyam thought that it said," Rodney said. "How do we know that he was right?"

"Rodney!" John exclaimed.

"I'm sorry, but it sounds crazy to me. Why would a Wraith just walk away from someone?"

"It is true that Lyam's translation could be questioned. But there was something about the Kalisian attitude towards the Wraith that made me believe that he was right. I cannot explain it – I just knew."

"What about the Heart of Kaliss?" Colonel Carter asked. "Did he say anything about that?"

"That was the other part of the writing that he managed to translate. It said, "I believe the Heart of Kaliss will explain why this happened. But that was the end of the writing. It actually appeared that someone had attempted to destroy the cave, but had been unsuccessful."

It didn't seem like a horrible story to Sheppard. Strange, a bit unbelievable – but then, this was Atlantis – but not horrible. It wasn't until Teyla added one more thing to her tale that he realized why she was so troubled.

"We heard several months later that a number of Kalisians were killed in a revolt. I assumed that Lyam was among them. It appears, however, that he got away. He was a good man."

This time Sheppard allowed himself to squeeze her shoulder before he dropped his arm in his lap. She gave him a small smile. She was far too sad for his liking. He desperately wanted to do something about it – but couldn't think of one thing that he would actually be allowed to do. Sadly, picking her up and carrying her into a quiet corner where he would cradle her against his chest did not seem like a feasible option.

Damn it, Sheppard, he thought. Snap out of it.

Colonel Carter stood up and paced back and forth until she returned to her desk and rested against it.

"You've been talking about the Kalisians in past tense," she said. "But I assume that they're still around – still mysteriously protecting at least some of their people from the Wraith. And if that's the case, then we need to connect with them."

Teyla shook her head.

"I am not sure that it will be possible. They made it clear that we were never to return."

"And didn't we agree that Teyla would stop going on more dangerous missions?" Ronon asked. "At least until the baby is born." His arms were crossed over his chest and he was glaring – not at anyone in particular but rather in a way that made everyone feel chastised.

"I think you're going to need her for this one," Colonel Carter said. "She knows the people and the territory. And if she tells them about Lyam they may be willing to talk to her."

"You want me to talk to them about Lyam?" Teyla asked.

"Yes," Colonel Carter said. "And more. I want you to go to them and explain that you have the body and offer to bring it to be buried on Kaliss. From there perhaps you'll be able to negotiate trade relations."

"Are you kidding?" Rodney demanded. "There are so many things that could go wrong with that plan. They could believe that we killed Lyam. They could try to kill Teyla on the spot. They could be in league with the Wraith . . ."

"Lyam was a rebel," Ronon interrupted. "Trust me, they'll want that body."

Sheppard looked at Teyla. He had never seen her look so upset. She was clearly not pleased at the thought of bringing Lyam's body to the people who had tried to kill him.

He was surprised when she said, "If it must be done."

"I wouldn't ask if I didn't think it was necessary. The important thing is going to be finding a way to stay there long enough to get some answers. Teyla, do you think you could find that cave again?"

"Yes, I believe so. Why?"

"Because if you can get some pictures of it then we may be able to get a complete translation. Assuming I can get in touch with Daniel."

"Dr. Jackson?" Teyla asked.

"Yes. If anyone can translate it, he can."

"I would like to reiterate how bad of an idea this is," Rodney said. He looked stricken.

Colonel Carter smirked at him.

"Rodney, most of the things we do are a bad idea," she said. "You should be used to it by now."

"Doesn't mean I like it," Rodney muttered.

"So when do we leave?" Ronon asked.

"In an hour," Colonel Carter said. "While you're gone I'll contact Daniel and have Dr. Keller prepare Lyam's body. Hopefully when you come back we'll be ready for a second trip."

"Alright. Let's go." The team followed Ronon out of Colonel Carter's office.

"John!" she called. "Wait a minute, please."

Sheppard turned around and walked to the front of her desk.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Unfortunately Rodney was right. I don't have to tell you how badly this could go," she said. "And Teyla is in more danger than any of you – both physically and emotionally. It's true that she should be staying in the city until the baby is born. But this is too important to put off. Make sure you keep an eye on her. Keep her behind you, don't let her go off by herself – you know the drill."

Sheppard nodded. If only Colonel Carter knew how badly he wanted to protect Teyla. Then she wouldn't find it necessary to remind him.

"You don't have to worry about it," he said. "I always have an eye on my team." Sometimes both eyes . . . for a little too long, he thought.

"I know," Colonel Carter said. "I'll see you in the Gateroom in an hour."

John gave her a little nod and jogged out of the office. He had a lot to do in an hour – but first he needed to talk to Teyla. When he reached her quarters the door was open. He stepped inside quietly and found her standing in the middle of the room, staring at the gun on her newly decorated wall.

"It's not loaded, you know," he said.

Teyla turned and smiled at him.

"That is good to hear. I was a little concerned."

John walked over beside her as he added, "Ronon originally put it up there fully loaded and functional. When he wasn't looking I took it down, took out the bullets, and broke it. I mean, you can't tell when you look at it, but it won't work. I didn't want it to be noticeable or Ronon would be furious."

"Yes, I believe that he would," Teyla mused. "It was a nice gesture though."

"Yeah, he put a lot of thought into it. We all did."

Teyla faced him and peered up into his eyes.

"I appreciate it very much. Thank you."

Sheppard felt his cheeks flush.

"You're welcome. I . . . we . . . were glad to do it."

"I'm sure the baby will love it."

Sheppard was quiet for a moment as they admired the room together. He knew what he wanted to say to her but had become incredibly nervous. He had a crazy idea and he hoped that it was actually a good idea – not just his emotions talking. When Teyla walked over to her dresser and started packing her bag he finally worked up his courage.

"I'm a little worried about this mission," he said. "And I'd feel better if I knew that you'd be safe."

Teyla stuffed a shirt in her bag as she said, "We can never guarantee that we'll be safe on a mission."

"I know," Sheppard stuttered. "It's just different now. I mean, with you being pregnant . . ."

Teyla didn't look at Sheppard but her words made him feel like she was shooting him one of her classic stern looks.

"John, this is sounding dangerously like the conversations that we used to have before I asked you not to treat me like an invalid."

"I know, but just listen to me. I respect you and I know that you're more than capable of defending yourself. But you have to accept the fact that for a little while you're not going to be able to act like your normal self. Which is why, while we're on Kaliss, I think that we should pretend to be married."

In surprise, Teyla's head snapped up.

"John . . . what do you mean?"

Now that the words were out Sheppard knew that he couldn't take them back. He took a deep breath to calm his pounding heart and managed to hold her gaze as he explained.

"It will allow me to stay close to you at all times. Sometimes when we're on missions we get split up at night. I don't want that to happen this time."

Sheppard wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but he thought that Teyla was flustered. She was rapidly shoving more items into her bag and wouldn't look at him. With her auburn hair falling in front of her face he couldn't see if she was blushing.

"Do you not think that might be too much?" she asked.

Sheppard had no idea what he reasonably thought about the situation. He was too distracted by his desire to rush over to her and throw her down on the bed.

"No," he managed to squeak out. "I think it's necessary."

Teyla finally looked at him again. She wasn't blushing but she didn't look angry either.

"If that is truly what you believe, then I will agree," she said.

"Good," Sheppard said. "I'll see you in an hour."

"Alright."

As he left Teyla's quarters he thought, I don't think I've ever been more excited about a mission before. He couldn't wait to step through the gate.