A/N: Thanks to all the great reviews I'm getting with my first story. I am working on Chapter 8 as I write this and my roommate, who is also my beta reader, is also working on her first story. Should see her name up here soon, I hope.

Chapter 4 The Dinner

Conference Room

Rodney McKay didn't know what to think of General Sheppard. O'Neill, he knew from his two previous experiences with SG-1. The second experience had seen him shipped off to Siberia for a while before he got to go to the Antarctic and work on the Ancient underground base there. General Sheppard was a wild card. From looking at him, he seemed like any gung-ho Marine. Yet, something was wrong about him. When John had left to go get the other guests, O'Neill nodded at him but Sheppard ignored him as if he didn't even exist. This was something that Rodney was going to have to investigate further. Maybe he would enlist Carson and Radek in his investigation. It should prove interesting besides getting some background into one Lt. Colonel John Sheppard.

Ronon and Teyla both thought of General Sheppard as an old warrior that had lost his way. For Ronon, Sheppard was nothing like the younger one. This old one had lost all ability to fight except on paper. He had seen other's like old Sheppard on Sateda. These men had been given desk jobs as a way of keeping them active but out of harms way. Ronon understood why this happened yet a quick death would have been preferable than to sit out your days behind the lines and only read about how things were getting done. To not be in the action is a death sentence. To overcome this failing, the old timers would become more like efficiency experts. They would go out and inspect the men and the bases. Then they would make recommendations that were supposed to improve reaction times and make life easier for the men when in reality, it caused more problems. This is how Ronon saw General Sheppard and at this time he would still give him respect as his rank was due but he would ignore everything else General Sheppard said.

General O'Neill was still a man of action. Even though he was also assigned to a desk, this man still had the wear withal to be able to assess any given situation and make decisions quickly. General O'Neill was a man that Ronon could respect and honor.

Teyla suspected that General Sheppard and Colonel Sheppard were father and son. Both men carried themselves with a knowledge of who they were. They were both respectable men yet she sensed something was wrong with their relationship. Having seen such a loving relationship between Halling and Jinto made her realize what was missing. John had a military respect for his father but the love between them was missing. It seemed to be missing for quite some time. As for the General, he reminded her of Colonel Sumner. The man had looked through her and dismissed her as being nothing, not what she truly was; a leader of her people. The General had also dismissed Ronon, Carson and Rodney the same way. This man did not understand that an individual is just as important as any military leader. This man had also tried to dismiss Elizabeth in the same manner. What surprised Teyla was how Dr. Weir handled General Sheppard. She had not dismissed him but had seen through what he presented and treated him with a mild respect due his rank and that is all. This was definitely going to be an interesting two weeks.

Carson Beckett couldn't believe that John Sheppard could be related to General Sheppard in some way. John Sheppard was outgoing, funny, sarcastic, could turn on a sympathy plea in nothing flat. Thomas Sheppard was dismissive, just shy of being rude. He had no respect for non military personnel, and everything about him screamed mean, bitter, and arrogant. He was extremely happy to know that even if this man was John's father, none of these traits had been passed down to the son from the father. He wondered what could have happened to create such a bitter man. He would have to talk with Rodney to see what he thought about this situation.

Jack O'Neill watched as John Sheppard's team assessed General Thomas Sheppard. It was an amazing thing to watch. Without so much as a word to one another, all three people came to the same conclusion about the man. He also saw the unspoken glances thrown at each other. These three people and the CMO would all watch Colonel Sheppard's back. Anything that the General would be thinking about doing would be deflected or intercepted by any of these people. What amazed him more was the same reaction was being done by Elizabeth Weir. He knew that she backed her people but there was also something else going on. He didn't think it was a personal relationship between Elizabeth and Colonel Sheppard but something was there just under the surface. He looked forward to seeing what it was exactly.

Five minutes later, the doors opened again and Colonel Sheppard was ushering in seven more people. To Jack, three of them looked like children but he had found out on the trip here that looks can be deceiving. Jack let the younger Sheppard do the introductions of his team and the new arrivals.

"Everyone, this motley group is known as the X-Men. The first member is Ambassador Hank McCoy. Next is Ororo Monroe. Next to her is Logan. The young lady with a streak of white in her hair is Rogue. Next to Rogue is Robert Drake. The final young lady is Kitty Pride and the rather tall young man is Peter Rasputin." As John made each introduction, each of the X-Men nodded or acknowledged so the others in the room would know who they were.

John looked at the X-Men and said, "Across the room you know Dr. Weir and Dr. Rodney McKay. Next to Rodney is the rest of my team. Tech Specialist Ronon Dex is from the planet Sateda. Next to him is Teyla Emmagan. She is Athosian and leader of her people that live out on the mainland. Next to them is Carson Beckett, Chief Medical Officer. He's in charge of all of our lives. All off-world missions have post-mission checkups with him and his staff, no matter if you are hurt or not. He makes sure that we don't bring back any nasty bugs or germs. Finally, you all know General O'Neill and General Sheppard."

Dr. Weir smiled at everyone and said, "Well, now that introductions have been made, why don't we all find a seat and have dinner. I wanted this to be an informal get together so that we could all get to know one another."

All fifteen people found seats around the room. Jack sat next to Elizabeth while John was at a loss as to who he should sit with. Should he sit with the X-Men or his team? The dilemma was solved when Teyla sat on his right and Ororo sat on his left. The best of both worlds for John. General Sheppard was sat between Hank McCoy and Rodney McKay. Elizabeth was next to Teyla. Jack was next to Ronon who was next to Carson. Carson sat next to Rodney. Logan sat on the other side of Ororo with Rogue on his right. Robert was on Rogue's right while Kitty was on his right. Peter sat between Kitty and Hank.

As luck would have it, the Sheppards sat across from each other. Thomas would either studiously look at his plate or throw glares over at John throughout the entire meal. Teyla and Ororo hit it off. Since Teyla was a leader of her people and Ororo was the leader of the X-Men on this endeavor, both recognized a common bond.

As dinner was slowly consumed, all thirteen people in the room noticed that Colonel Sheppard was rather quiet. Teyla and Ororo both realized that John had not eaten a thing off of his plate the whole evening. Carson also had noticed that every time that John actually did go to take a small bite of food, the General would be glaring at him from across the table. John would take an even smaller bite of what was on his fork. Finally, John was left to pushing his food around on his plate to make it look like he was eating. Ororo gently nudged John and glanced at his plate. He mouthed the words 'Not Hungry' at her. She slightly shook her head and gave his arm a light squeeze.

As the evening progressed, Rodney finally had a question to put to John. "So Colonel, where did you meet Logan? I'm sure it's a fascinating story."

"I can tell you later, McKay."

"No actually John, I'm interested in how you came to know the X-Men," Elizabeth admitted.

Jack encouraged him also. Seeing as how most of the room was interested, John finally took a deep breath and began his tale.

"I was in Afghanistan. I had just been shot down by some Iraqi artillery and my crew was dead. I was injured . . .a concussion, shrapnel in my shoulder, my arm was broke . . ."

A small noise was heard from General Sheppard that made the rest of the people think he was clearing his throat. John took it for what it was meant to be. Derogatory.

John continued, "I had found a small cave to whole up in until a rescue team could extract me out. I had been there for about 2 days and I was running out of water when this guy appears at the mouth of my cave."

Another derogatory sound came from the General.

"Anyway, there was this guy, black hair, camouflage fatigues, one M-16 rifle."

Another derogatory sound. Hank and Rodney both glared at the General as if to tell him to be quiet. Rodney motioned John to continue.

John swallowed hard and went on. "I tried to hide but he seemed to find me without a problem."

Another sound. With that last one, John couldn't take it anymore. He arose from his seat and looked at everyone. "If you'll excuse me, I'm not feeling very well. Don't worry Carson, it's just the headache. Nick told me to comeback if it got worse. Elizabeth, Lorne should be stopping by soon with radios for everyone. Can you pass them out and show them how to use them? I should be fine tomorrow. Generals." He saluted and then left the room.

Once he had made it out the door, he turned and ran for the infirmary. He barely made it before he lost what he had eaten for dinner. Kelly and Nick both turned as the door opened. Seeing John and how white his pallor was, Kelly grabbed a trashcan and held it for John as he vomited up his dinner and breakfast. He had slept through lunch so that was his saving grace. Nick had a washcloth to help clean him up after the dry heaves had stopped.

"Thanks. Wasn't sure if I was going to make it or not."

"Is it the migraine or something else?"

"Combination. Something else is making the migraine worse. God, the pounding in my head is relentless."

"Come on, let's get you up on the gurney for now. I'm going to give you a shot of something for the headache. I need to watch you for about an hour, so why don't you try to get some rest here?" Nick was gently getting John out of his jacket to give the injection in his upper arm.

"Whatever you say Nick, just make my head stop pounding."

"Working on it John, working on it. There you go," as he finally was able to give the shot.

Kelly came over with an icepack wrapped in cloth and gently placed it over John's eyes, temples and forehead. "This should help too Colonel," she said quietly.

John barely nodded and whispered, "Thanks."

Nick watched as John lay quietly on the gurney. What he didn't tell John was that he had also given him a sedative to help him sleep. Kelly looked at Nick. "Will he be okay?"

"If he can get rid of the headache, I think so. I don't think this is stemming from the concussion since it was so mild. Carson is just being a bit over cautious with the light duty but after this episode, maybe he was right."

"Wonder what set it off?"

"Maybe Carson knows. He was at dinner with him tonight."

Conference Room

Logan stood up as John left the room and glared at General Thomas Sheppard. If looks could kill then the General had been drawn and quartered within two seconds.

"Just what are you playing at General?" Logan questioned.

"Playing at? Nothing, why do you ask?"

"Because of you, John hardly ate a thing for dinner, couldn't complete a story and had to leave before he became sick. Making derogatory sounds throughout his tale is low even for most people. You seem to have made an art of it when it comes to John. Why is that?"

"None of your business. It is a personal matter between him and me."

"It is our business. You see, we X-Men are family and he is part of this family. You insult one of us, you insult all of us. So I ask again, what is your problem with John?"

"I will have to second that motion," Rodney stated. "Colonel Sheppard is our team leader, and the team is family, so you have now insulted us, as well. Care to explain yourself, General?"

"Do you really want to know about your precious Colonel? Do you really want to hear how he killed someone that had no mean bone in their body? Do you?" the General glared at the table.

"Yes, we do," came the quiet reply from Teyla Emmagan.

General Thomas J. Sheppard looked Teyla straight in the eye and said, "He murdered his mother twenty-six years ago tomorrow. I never wanted children but my wife did. I compromised and said that we would have one child. John was born. I had nothing to do with him until after his mother died. Even then, that was too much contact for me. He should have been carted off to a facility for murderers but the courts said it was someone else's fault. John was responsible and I lost my wife because of him. That day I washed my hands of him."

"Twenty-six years ago would make John twelve. How can you say that he murdered his mother? No twelve year old would do such a thing," Rodney stated.

"They were in a car going to his birthday gift that he had talked his mother into. She told me that she was giving him a flight on a Cessna. They never made it to the airport. She suffered and died while he just sat in the back and did nothing."

"I can't believe that. Was the car totaled?" Jack asked.

"Head on collision. My wife was pinned and died from internal injuries while that piece of human refuse just sat in the back and let her die."

"General, I feel for your loss but I am going to get to the bottom of this. In the mean time, I do not want you any where near Colonel Sheppard or any of the people in this room. I cannot be held responsible for their actions."

"Fine. I will stay in my quarters until you come to your senses about Colonel Sheppard."

"General Sheppard, was John hurt in the car crash?" Rogue asked.

"Don't know. Didn't bother to find out. All I needed to know is that he was responsible for my wife's death." With that last statement, General Thomas J. Sheppard left to find his quarters.

With the General gone, a collective breath was let out. Logan still feeling frustrated, let out a low growl and popped his claws into the countertop of the conference table. Rodney looked under the table and saw three razor-sharp claws sticking out of the bottom of the table. He gulped and stood back up.

"Logan, that's enough!" Ororo said forcefully.

"Sorry, but how can that guy hate someone so much for something that was obviously an accident? Jack, can you get to a database or have someone check about the story."

"I'm going to need some specific like where it happened, time of day. I can have either Daniel or Sam do the database search for me at the SGC."

"I know that he was injured. He said his dad came to the hospital and told him why it couldn't have been him who died instead of her. Eagle said he almost willed himself dead but something made him hang on. He swears he saw his mom standing next to his bed telling him that he was bound for a great destiny. I would say helping out at Atlantis is a great destiny."

"Yeah, it is. So where do you think the Colonel is now?" Rodney asked.

Carson held up his hand and said, "Thanks Nick, I'll be down in a bit. Colonel Sheppard is in the infirmary. Seems the headache turned into a migraine. He barely made it in the door and lost his dinner. Nick has given him an injection of something for the headache as well as a mild sedative to help him sleep. Hopefully by morning, the headache will be gone and we can get some answers."

"Carson, would it be alright if we sit with him? He should not be alone at this time of the year. Especially if he blames himself for what happened to his mother."

"Aye lass, that's a good idea. You set up a schedule for the night and I'll let Nick know to expect you. Would you X-Men like to be involved in this ritual sitting that these four tend ta do?"

"Yes, we would if it's alright with you?" Ororo said looking at his Atlantis team and Dr. Weir.

"Sure, we can double and triple up on the sitting duty," Elizabeth smiled. "Seeing as that I have work in the morning, I will start now, and see who at ten?"

"I will be there at ten Elizabeth, along with . . .?" Teyla said.

"Rogue and me," Robert said.

"Fine. Who will be coming with me?" Elizabeth asked.

"I will," said Ororo.

"As will I," said Hank.

"Great, off we go to the infirmary."

Just as they turned to head out the door, it opened to reveal Major Lorne with their radios. After showing everyone how to attach the radios to their ears along with how to change frequencies, the first team of baby sitters left for the infirmary.

For the next half hour, the rest of the two teams decided who would be teaming up with who to watch Colonel Sheppard sleep.

TBC A/N: Next chapter, Getting to know one another.