Chapter 3 - The Tags part 1
Letters from Pegasus tag
Dave sighed as Ford switched off the recording for whoever awaited Colonel Sumner's return .
"Are you sending one to any family back home, sir?" Lt. Ford asked.
"Yeah." Dave nodded and Ford pressed the button on the camera to start recording again.
"Hi, John. It's me Dave, obviously. I know I said I'd send word when we got into contact but we technically aren't in contact. It's confusing stuff that is too boring to get into. Anyway." Dave pointed to himself and smiled to lighten his next statement. "Not dead as you can see but I don't know when I'll be coming back. I'm afraid it isn't quite as monotonous as I guessed it would be, but it's not too bad. You'd love it here though, this place has your name written all over it. There's a beach nearby that you would have loved to go surfing on and it's pretty exciting. It's still classified but I can tell you that it's pretty amazing here. I have my own team, go figure. A lieutenant named Aiden Ford." Dave glanced behind the camera as Ford grinned at his mention. "A native named Talaan Emmagan, and a self proclaimed genius named Jeannie McKay. They may not sound like much but they're great, I would love for you to get to know them some day. They've been watching my back pretty well for the last year so you don't have to worry about me, I'll be fine. Say hi to Nancy for me, and Dad, too, I suppose. I doubt he wants to listen to anything I have to say but you can tell him. And, John, I..." Dave trailed off for a moment, trying to decide on the best way to word what he wanted to tell his brother. "Listen if I don't make it back I expect you to make friends, John. Goodbye."
"Older brother or younger?" Ford inquired as he picked up the camera and tripod, thankfully ignoring everything Dave said.
Dave had considered asking Ford to wait outside but he figured he needed to trust his team. "Younger," Dave replied. He stood and picked up his discarded tac vest that he had dropped on a chair when he had come in. Talaan and he had just returned from a mission to see what kind of numbers they were up against. The odds didn't look promising but at least hope wasn't completely gone.
"Come on, I hear there's turkey in the mess."
When John opened the door after he heard the bell, he saw a man from the Air Force standing in his dress blues. His heart thumped loudly in his chest as he feared the worst.
"Mr. Sheppard?"
"Yes, that's me. Is this about my brother?" John blurted worriedly.
"He's fine, Mr. Sheppard. He sent a message for you." The airmen handed him a case that held a CD.
Shoulders slumping in relief, John took the case from him and said, "Thank you."
"Have a nice day, sir." The man said and turned, walking back to his car.
"You too." John called before he closed the door and headed for his office. Upon reaching it he immediately booted up his laptop and sat in the comfortable office chair. Without hesitating he pressed the play button and David's face appeared on the screen. As he listened John studied his brother's face. Mercifully uninjured, David looked mostly the same. His hair had grown a bit so that John could begin to make out the natural waves David had inherited from their mother. John was fairly certain that length wasn't regulation but he realized that David had been out of contact for some time. They must've become a bit lax in enforcing hair cuts.
"Anyway, not dead as you can see but I don't know when I'll be coming back."
John managed a small smile at that remark but he worried as the video recording of David told him it was dangerous. The statement held an air of 'don't worry' but John knew that David was understating it. No one else would notice it but John knew he would do the same if he didn't want David to worry. A real smile did show when David mentioned surfing, they both loved the sport. Thankfully John's worry was eased when David spoke of his team. Despite the fact that he only had one soldier on his team John could tell that David genuinely meant what he said about them watching his back. Then the video recording ended with David saying, "Listen if I don't make it back I expect you to make friends, John. Goodbye."
John wasn't quite sure what to make of that statement. David had a fairly optimistic outlook on life but if he said that there was a possibility he wouldn't make it back, something must be horribly long.
Slumping in the office chair John mulled over a few of the things David had said. "You'd love it here though, this place has your name written all over it" and "exciting" replayed a few times causing John to allow himself a rare moment of daydreaming. What if he had gone ahead with his childhood dream? How would things have been different if John hadn't let go? Shaking himself from his musings John turned his gaze morosely on the pile paperwork. The saying came to mind that went something like, "If you do what you love you'll never work a day in your life." John was working his butt off.
Intruder tag
The meetings were physically killing him, of that Dave was sure. He hadn't realized he said it out loud until Jeannie answered him.
"That's impossible. They could mentally kill you if you were for some reason allergic to boredom which I'm pretty sure is impossible too." Jeannie frowned.
Dave lifted his head from his crossed arms where they lay on the table to glare at his teammate. "It was a figure of speech. But I'm still sure that they're killing brain cells."
"They're about science!" Jeannie protested. "If anything that should make brain cells!"
Dave snorted and abandoned the argument. "I can't wait to get out of here and see my brother."
"You have a brother?" Jeannie halted her consummation of breakfast and looked at him in surprise.
"I didn't mention him?" Dave asked, he was sure John had come up in a conversation at some point.
"No." Jeannie frowned again. "No you didn't. What's his name? Why isn't he a crazy flyboy in the Air Force, too? Wait, is he?"
Shaking his head with a small smile, Dave answered, "John. Because he decided to be a businessman. No."
"Huh," Jeannie said but Dave had no idea what it meant.
Reaching for his undoubtedly cold coffee, Dave asked, "You want to meet him?"
"What? Why would I want to meet your brother? He's probably just as crazy as you." Jeannie scoffed, though Dave could see interest sparking in her eyes.
"He has a PhD in mathematics," Dave weaseled, waggling his eyebrows for good measure.
"Really? Then why is he a businessman?" Jeannie demanded. "Is he stupid smart guy or something?"
"My dad wanted him to be one so he was, but he is really smart. He's been offered a lot of positions at various think tanks, universities, and whatnot but he stayed with the business," Dave explained.
"Well. He's probably not as smart as me," Jeannie decided. Then she took a slightly large bite of her food, though thankfully it was not so big that she looked stuffed. Dave had yet to acquire that skill but it seemed very useful when trying to eat whatever the locals of some planet set in front of you.
"Prove it," Dave dared and smiled when Jeannie slowly chewed and swallowed.
"Fine," Jeannie said, somehow managing to sound grudging and eager at the same time. "When are you leaving?"
"Three hours," Dave replied and left the cold coffee and the table.
"John!"
Groaning John looked up from his current staring contest with a piece of paper. He needed to get his work done but he couldn't seem to concentrate on the papers. "I'm busy, Nance!" He called out despite the fact that he wanted nothing more than to jump to whatever she needed.
Nancy yelled, presumably from downstairs, "It can wait until later! David's here!"
John jerked out of seat before he realized what he was doing, paperwork forgotten. He almost didn't believe his eyes when he saw David standing next to Nancy and another woman he didn't recognize. Losing no time, John ran up and gave David a quick, hard hug. His brother gave a small "oof" upon impact.
"I really thought you were dead!" John exclaimed.
"It's great to see you too, John," David greeted dryly.
John ignored it and objected, still grasping David's arms, "But you said you wouldn't make it back."
The woman who had come with David spoke up before his brother could. "What? Didn't have any faith in me, Sheppard?" She slapped him lightly on the arm causing David to protest with an indignant tone.
"I did not say we wouldn't make it! I said that there was a possibility."
"Yeah but you looked like you meant you weren't coming back and I was never going to see you again," John told him, finally releasing his brother.
"Well, I'm back now and Jeannie and I have a few days before we leave to get back to base. So if you're not busy..." Dave said with a questioning expression.
"I'm not anymore," John announced. "I'll just make a call to get somebody else to do my paperwork."
Jeannie snorted and three inquiring sets of eyes turned to her. "Does the Sheppard family have something against paperwork? Was there some tragic event that scarred you two?"
Nancy raised an eyebrow at the two brothers while the side of her lips twitched. "I don't think so. I think they got it from their mom though, because their dad loves paperwork."
"Paperwork is boring!" David protested. "You just stare at for hours on end and sign your name in a few places. And you hope you finish it before the ink becomes indistinguishable blotches."
"See? David understands," John said to Nancy with a slightly smug tone.
Shaking her head, Nancy told her husband, "Go make the call, I can get them settled."
The Return Tag
Frustrated Dave looked around his dark, gray, boring, and ocean-less room at the SGC for something to throw. Scarcely could he believe what had just happened. The Ancients had booted them out, even after all they had done for the city, without so much as a, "come back and visit."
Atlantis had been his home, Dave openly admitted that, and he missed the place fiercely. Not only the place though, he missed Talaan Emaggan's calming and logical thinking and Coden Dex's looming presence. At moments he missed Zachary Weir and his annoyingly diplomatic solutions, whether they failed or not, and even Jeannie McKay's genius brain (not that he ever told her that) and insulting arguments... well maybe he missed those the most. There was also the missing presence of Radek Zelenka and Evan Lorne, another strange two friends. The only person he didn't miss was Dr. Stanley Beckett and that was only because the doctor had taken up a position at the SGC infirmary. In short, the last month had sucked.
"If yer going t' throw something ye should do it with yer left arm."
Whirling around, Dave saw Dr. Beckett in the doorway. "I only dislocated it."
"And I only told ye to keep the sling on for a couple of days," Beckett countered, picking up the fabric sling that had been cast aside. "I know this time has been tough for all of us so I think we should all get out a bit. Why don't ye go visit yer brother for a week or so and then we can call Jeannie and Zac and take them out for dinner?"
Dave sighed and conceded that he was right. "Okay, sounds good." After he got the okay from Landry, Dave pulled out his cellphone and called John.
"Hey, David."
"Hey, John. Listen, I have some time and I'm stateside so I was wondering if – " Dave began.
"Of course, where are you now?" John responded at once.
Smiling David told his brother a little ruefully, "Colorado Springs. I was transferred there a couple of weeks ago."
"Why didn't you say that first?" John exclaimed on the other end of the line. "I'm coming to you."
"John you don't have to – " Dave started to try explaining that he was staying on classified base.
"Yes, I do. I'm sure there's some business conference or another that I 'need' to go to. Two birds with one stone, right?" John cut in.
"No, I mean I didn't – "
Annoyingly John interrupted again. "Get a place? There's these wonderful things called hotels, David."
Dave was silent for a moment before he asked, "Okay, how did you know?"
Chuckling John responded, "It wasn't hard to tell you loved being where you were before. I figured you either miss your other base or you hope to get back. Either way you wouldn't buy a house or an apartment."
"That's pretty good," Dave admitted, smiling.
"Coulda been Mensa," John quipped.
"You are Mensa, John," Dave corrected.
"Nah. I took the test, I never joined," countered John.
Frowning Dave questioned, "Why on Earth would you do that?"
Dave could almost see John shrugging his shoulders with an uncomfortable expression. "Because Dad didn't know."
Oh. So John hadn't completely given up on rebellion?
Tactfully John changed the subject, "Anyway, Nancy and I can be there tomorrow afternoon.
"I guess I'll see you then." Dave ended the call and leaned back in his chair, propping his feet up on the desk. Turning the cellphone over and over in his hands without paying it any attention, Dave wondered what else John had done that would not have been smiled upon by their father. A thousand different little things could've gone unnoticed by Patrick Sheppard. Maybe it was all those little things that kept John sane? Sheppards were genetically control freaks and he and John were no exception. So John must have done something to feel like he was still, in some way, in control of his life while at the same time making Patrick think likewise. Sighing Dave, not for the first time, wished things had been different.
"You know, you guys could stay awhile," Dave suggested, a week of thoroughly enjoying spending time with John and Nancy had passed all too quickly.
"I thought you were having dinner with some friends," Nancy said from her spot on a very comfortable couch.
"They would all love to meet you," Dave told them. "Jeannie's the only one who's met you and everybody else has mentioned meeting you two."
"Oh yeah, Jeannie," John remembered. "Did you hook up with her yet?"
Dave could almost feel his jaw hit the floor. "What?!"
Nancy tried to smother her giggle at his expression while John laughed openly.
"She's dating some other guy, Kaleb Brown," Dave told them.
"Ooh, tough luck," John sympathized but his devil-may-care grin ruined the tone.
Dave promptly grabbed a pillow and lobbed it at John, hitting him square in the head. Unfortunately the action only served to send John into a fit of laughter more intense than the last.
"I haven't even thought of asking her out," Dave defended.
"Stop, David," Nancy gasped out. "You're just digging yourself into a deeper hole."
Growling in frustration, Dave said, "I change my mind. I'm not taking you with me."
"Nononono, you can't take back an invitation. I'm sure it goes against some rule of etiquette," John objected, finally getting a hold of his laughter.
"Screw etiquette, I'm not taking you two."
Dave, John, and Nancy were the first to arrive at the restaurant. A few minutes later Zac and Stan came in together.
"So, you finally got a hold of him?" Dave smiled.
Zac blushed lightly, seeming a little embarrassed. "I was busy."
"Of course," Stan agreed in a disagreeing tone. Then he turned to John and Nancy and offered his hand. "Dr. Stanley Beckett. I'm the man who patches up your brother when he gets into trouble."
His lips twitching at the corners, John took the proffered hand. "John Sheppard, the one who dealt with David's upbringing. And this is my wife Nancy."
"You're the one who got into trouble," Dave argued sullenly.
John smiled innocently and shook Zac's hand when he introduced himself, "Zachary Weir."
"Nice to meet you all. David's told me a lot about you."
Jeannie came in a few minutes later and Dave had to kick John to be certain he wouldn't say anything... unhelpful.
They had been enjoying a gentle ribbing of Stanley's romance with Cara Cadman, the woman who had decided to use Jeannie's body to kiss her crush in case they hadn't made it out of the dart alive. The two had been a bit uncomfortable around each other for a while but they had gotten over it and Jeannie was now joining in with the teasing. Then three cell phones rang at roughly the same time, Dave's included. As he, Jeannie, and Zac all pulled out their cellphones, Dave heard as he answered with his name John say, "Coincidence, I think not." And Nancy giggled lightly in response.
Dave sighed as he listened to Walter relay General Landry's order for return. When he ended the call Stan patted his pockets with a frown and demanded, "I didn't bring my bloody cellphone! What's going on?"
"They need us back on base," Dave explained, standing up. Then, looking at his brother and sister-in-law, "I'm really sorry, I ha – "
John interrupted with a shooing motion. "Go, save the world. Nancy and I can find something to occupy our time with."
Nodding gratefully, Dave led the way out with his three friends in tow.
Several hours later, Dave really hoped this crazy plan they cooked up was going to work. Even if it didn't at least he had spent a good week with his family before he potentially fell in the line of fire.
Outcast Tag
Dave and Coden were determined to watch the movie Alien. Coden had yet to see it because Jeannie blatantly refused to watch it on team night and they always seemed too busy to watch it. Things seemed to keep getting in the way no matter how hard Dave and Coden tried to clear their schedules so that they could watch it. Dave had explicitly asked his CO, Colonel Mark Carter, not to call him away for anything unless someone died.
So the two of them hurried to enclose themselves in Dave's quarters to avoid any other human contact. Dave snagged his computer from his bed and set it open on his desk while Coden grabbed two comfortable chairs and dragged them over because the bed was too small for both men to fit on it (it was also too small to fit Dave).
While the computer booted up Coden grabbed his DVD case and flipped it open in search of the movie. Dave was about to close his email when he noticed and a message from John and remembered that they had a scheduled dial out to Earth earlier.
"What is it?" Coden inquired, noticing Dave stop moving.
"Uh, it's an email from my brother. He says my dad had a heart attack," Dave said and collapsed back on his chair to think about what he'd read.
Dear David,
I guess I'll just go straight to the point. Dad had a heart-attack a couple of day ago. He survived but the doctors have him on strict orders to be resting. We'll see how long that lasts but he's been doing fine so far. I tried to talk him into calling you but he stands firm in his belief that he will be fine and that if you care you'll come. He can't let go of his pride and just apologize, he seems to regret what happened but doesn't know what to say. I don't know if I can ask you to come, I understand if you don't, but this may be your chance. Just give it a shot, maybe he'll come around.
John
Coden had apparently read it also because he set aside the DVD case and asked, "Do you wanna go?"
"I don't know..." Dave started as he thought it over. What if Patrick did come around? What if he didn't? If he didn't what was the worse he could say? "Yeah, I do."
Standing up Coden strode toward the door. "Let's go talk to Carter then."
Dave followed gratefully and Alien was forgotten.
Four days later Dave and Coden had finally tracked down the two elusive replicators. Now Dave was trying to decide on whether or not he should go visit his father. After at least an hour of thinking Dave pulled out his phone and called John, still full of indecision.
"Hello?"
"Hi, John. It's Dave," Dave replied.
"You came?" John seemed surprised.
"Sorta. How's Dad," Dave asked.
"Recovering." John answered. "With no shortage of reasons why he is perfectly capable of getting back to work... Are you going to come?"
"I don't know," Dave responded honestly. "I had some work stuff to do and I have a little time but... I just don't know."
"And I can't tell you how Dad will react if that's what you need. He... one minute he's off on a rampage about you going into the Air Force the next he's lamenting his work deprived state. He's even gone off a few times about not having any grandchildren. Something about retirement being for grandpas and since he isn't one he's not retiring. I'm pretty sure it's his medication," John told him.
"I don't want to..." Dave struggled to find the right words to explain to his brother. "I don't want to run away but..."
"David, if I had to guess you won't get a pleasant welcome but no one can blame you for trying, right?"
"I'll be there soon, I'm already in the neighborhood."
"Okay."
Sighing Dave pocketed the cellphone and leaned against the wall. By 'in the neighborhood' he'd meant Earth because the Apollo was still in orbit. Clicking his radio on he requested Apollo beam him up. At least he could say he had tried.
A/N: Alright, this was going to be one chapter but it got a bit more lengthy than I thought so I'm going to give you all the tags in two chapters. It should also be noted that I gave a few people siblings that weren't mentioned in canon. Hope nobody minds that I gave Teyla and Ronon siblings. Originally I was going to introduce them in another story in our verse but it's on paper, enough said. I hope to get it up in the next few days, so for those interested it'll be called Cave In. Review anyone? ;)