Death and Life

Series: Stargate Atlantis

Theme: Drama/Romance

Characters: Main cast

Rating/Warning: PG-13/Mild violence

Summary: Teyla and John are brought back to Atlantis, but it may not be enough to save them.

Ronon and Elizabeth glanced down at the couple in the isolation room. John stood with his arms folded and watched the personnel that passed by the glass wall. Teyla rose from the sofa and placed a hand on his arm. She asked John to come and sit with her. He smiled and together they returned to the sofa and spoke of Tamere. Elizabeth sighed. This was not the joyful reunion that she had hoped for. The reports that she had received from Drs. Beckett and Heightmeyer were very alarming. They were running out of time and needed to find answers fast or all of this will have been in vain. Elizabeth decided to speak to them. She was curious of Bue and Norena, but what she really wanted was to see if she could find any trace of John or Teyla. Elizabeth made her way down the stairs and patiently waited as the guard opened the door. She entered the isolation room and smiled in greeting.

"King Bue, Queen Norena, may I?"

Elizabeth gestured to the seat across from them. John nodded and she sat down.

"First off, let me start by saying welcome to Atlantis. My name is Dr. Elizabeth Weir. I am the leader of this expedition. I apologize for the circumstances by which you were brought here, but I hope that we will find a way to rectify our problem shortly."

Elizabeth looked at the faces that stared blankly back at her and felt a shiver run down her spine. They were not John and Teyla. They really were strangers. She continued talking and tried to hide her discomfort.

"As a matter of fact, that's part of the reason I'm here now."

John nodded.

"The solution to your problem is simple. You have made a mistake, now let us go home."

Elizabeth's brow knotted.

"Unfortunately, that is not possible at this time."

John's eyes narrowed with anger.

"We have two friends that are ….missing, you might say. They look very much like you. In fact, we believe that they are you, but there was an accident-."

John rose from the sofa.

"Stop these lies!"

Security hurried into the room, but Elizabeth held up a hand to delay them. John squint his eyes and looked from the guards to Elizabeth, she waved them away.

"Do you think we are ignorant? It is quite obvious that you intend to kill us."

"That's not true. We only want what is best for you."

John glared with hatred.

"Best for us?!?! You take us from our home, subject us to experimentation and torture us with these horrible headaches!"

He winced in pain, but continued.

"Kill us if you must, but send our bodies home. Take them home to Tamere!"

John clutched his head and Teyla rose from the sofa. She wrapped her arms around him and rested her head against his. He was burning up. She yelled for Elizabeth to get the doctor. John groaned and whispered her name before losing consciousness.

Ronon snatched the communicator from his ear. The sudden loud burst of static had been painful. He glanced down into the isolation room, just as Carson and two medics lifted John onto a stretcher and wheeled him from the room. Ronon frowned and glanced down at the communicator again. He turned and exited the observation room, in search of Rodney.
Carson found Rodney and Ronon talking to Elizabeth when he entered her office. They paused in their conversation to inquire about John. Carson leaned against the doorway.

"He's fine for now, but there were a few scary moments with this last episode. I don't think he or Teyla will be able to survive another."

Both Rodney and Ronon looked at Elizabeth. She sat back in her chair. Carson sensed that he was missing and asked what was going on. Elizabeth sighed.

"During John's last migraine, Ronon noticed that his communicator began to malfunction. He says it was the same type of static that they experienced the first time they went to Tamere. He believes that the source of the strange atmospheric readings was Bue and Norena's spirits and that as long they are in possession of a body that the energy or whatever it is becomes dormant or contained. That's why there was no interference during the rescue attempts."

Carson's brows rose.

"That's an interesting theory, but what does that have to do with their current situation?"

Rodney spoke up.

"Remember when I said Kane mentioned that Bue and Norena only spent three months and two days together and then they always died?"

Carson nodded.

"Well, what if their spirits were only meant to inhabit a person for that specific amount of time? Anything longer and it would cause complications. What if Bue and Norena's spirits are trying to return to the atmosphere, but they have no place to go? And every time they try, it nearly kills John and Teyla."

Carson stood up straight.

"You mean the migraines and high temperatures?"

Rodney nodded. Carson's brow knotted.

"Why wouldn't they be able to rejoin the atmosphere here?"

"Because something in Lantea's atmosphere is different from that of Tamera, but if we took them back to Tamere….."

Rodney shrugged. Carson grew excited.

"Then what are we waiting for?"

Elizabeth grinned.

"We were just discussing that when you walked in and I have some serious reservations. What if a Tamerian security team is waiting for you when you reached the other side?"

Rodney shook his head.

"I don't think so. Before Bue and Norena returned, the gate was left unguarded. Security wasn't added until Bue ordered it done. Now that their king and queen are gone, I would expect things to return as normal."

Ronon rose from his chair and glanced down at Elizabeth. He was tired of all this talking, when every second that passed was an opportunity for Teyla and John to die.

"You hesitate as if we have options. We need to return them to Tamere, now. We have no other choice."

Bue waited until Elizabeth left the room before turning to face Norena. She grinned happily and threw herself into his arms. He rested his chin on top of her head and held her close. Bue knew that for the strangers to let them go could only mean one thing. For himself, he cared not, but for Norena…... He sighed. Bue would do what he could to protect her, but he knew the situation was hopeless. Norena felt Bue's long sigh and glanced up at him. She saw the concern etched into his face and tried to caress away the lines of worry.

"Have faith, husband."

She tilted his face until their eyes met.

"Have faith in our love. That it will transcend life and death and that we shall be together for all of eternity."

Bue smiled at Norena. For such a gentle soul, she had so much strength and wisdom. She made him very proud.

"Remember, no matter what happens that I love you with all that I am."

Bue rested his forehead against hers and let out another long sigh. He gazed sadly into the eyes of his queen and whispered, "I love you too," before capturing her lips in a gentle kiss.

Ronon and Major Lorne stepped from the Stargate and quickly searched its surrounding area; they were followed by John and Teyla. Rodney brought up the rear and scanned the atmosphere for any anomalous readings. As they had suspected, the area was clear Tamerian security. A few minutes later the wormhole disengaged, but suddenly began another dialing sequence. They immediately took cover.
Bue watched as the three men stepped from the Ocean's Sphere and stood.

"Kane."

The Keeper of Tamere's head whipped around at the sound of his master's voice. Kane stared, not believing his eyes.

"Sire?"

His eyes widened as Norena rose to stand beside her husband, as well as three Lanteans. Kane's surprise and joy was evident.

"You are alive! We had begun to believe that the worst had happened."

Bue opened his mouth to speak, but made a choking sound. Both he and Norena fell to the ground. Lorne rushed forward to help them, but skidded to a halt when they sharply exhaled and smoke began to billow from their mouths and nostrils. Rodney's scanner began to beep loudly, but he ignored it. Like the others, he watched as the two clouds of smoke joined and hovered over John and Teyla's unconscious forms. Kane smiled. They were free and this time they had lived, instead of suffering such horrible deaths. He watched as the cloud raised high in the sky and then slowly disappeared. The sound of Bue and Norena's laughter floated on the wind.

John groaned. His head hurt like hell. He slowly opened his eyes to find a group of people standing over him. John rolled his head to the side and saw the unconscious form next to him. He suddenly sat up.

"Teyla?"

The small group standing over him let out a sigh of relief. John soon joined them and let out a sigh of his own. He could feel the steady beat of her pulse underneath his fingertips.

Bue's rage was uncontrollable. He could feel Norena's nails clawing at his hands as they tightened around her neck. A burning pain spread through his side. He glanced down and saw a pool of his own blood.

John jerked awake. He quietly rose from the bed and entered the bathroom. After splashing cool water on his face, he stared into the mirror. John remembered everything; Bue and Norena's days spent in Tamere, the journey home, and their brief stay in Atlantis. It had been four months since their return and yet all of the memories were as clear as if they'd happened the day before. The only thing that eluded him was the mystery behind their deaths. This was the third time he had had this dream, but what transpired was always the same. Dr. Heightmeyer believed that because he and Teyla had never acted out the event, that they would never know the answers. John sighed and turned off the light. When he exited the bathroom Teyla sat up in the bed. He climbed in beside her and she snuggled close.

"Did I wake you?"

She shook her head.

"No, I was having problems sleeping."

John placed his hand on her swollen belly.

"Is it the baby?"

Teyla nodded.

"He is very active."

He grinned and kissed her brow.

"She is very much like her mother."

They sat for a few minutes in silence, before Teyla lifted her head.

"John?"

"Hhmm?"

"Do you think we would be together now if it hadn't been for Bue and Norena?"

John laughed.

"Well, I don't think we would be married or expecting a child, but I do believe that we would be together. I loved you before we ever stepped foot on Tamere, but being Bue allowed me to express my feelings for you in a way that I could never do here."

John gazed off into space and smiled.

"Yes, we would be together."

She titled her head.

"Do you regret getting married?"

John rolled his eyes.

"Teyla, of course I don't regret getting married and I am very excited about having our baby."

He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her.

"Tey, there is nothing more that I want in life than what we have right here."

John smiled and his eyes darkened with desire.

"My queen, you have made me immensely happy."

The End

Author's Note: The idea for this story actually came to me while watching a 300 trailer. As I wrote it, I became a huge fan of Bue and Norena, but my love for them made it difficult to come up with an acceptable reason for their deaths. Why did they kill each other, I honestly don't know. And now that I've completed the story, I'm really enjoying that little bit of mystery. Anywho, I hope you enjoyed Tamere and thanks to everyone for the wonderful reviews.

Bye for now,

Devine

P.S. The Puppeteer: I hope you aren't too disappointed. This was supposed to be a shorter fic, but I ended up adding a little bit. I promised myself that I would only do small fics for a while and I'm sticking to it. Bue and Norena are a mixture of John and Teyla. Bue is the best of John and Teyla's leadership skills, with Teyla's stoicism and fighting abilities and Norena is the kind and forgiving spirit that resides in both John and Teyla, with a little of Teyla's quiet strength and wisdom. They were not meant to be parallel in any way, but the more I wrote, the more I saw the similarities. :-) D.