Time and Again

Leaving Rodney, John walked over to Teyla. "You said something about showing me the ruins of the Alterian city."

"Yes John, follow me. It will only take a few moments to reach the ruins and I will show you the caves along the is where we take shelter when the Wraith come. Some of my people, me included, can sense the Wraith coming. This has given my people enough time to evacuate the village, but we still are not able to save everyone. In the last culling we lost my father and the group of people he returned to help."

"I'm sorry." John laid his hand on her arm.

"It was long ago and I can only hope he did not suffer. It is all we can do when the Wraith take those we love." Teyla started off down a path at the far side of the village. "Come it is this way."

The path was narrow and John walked behind Teyla, contemplating these people's lives. When he was in the Air Force before he seen too many war zones but none of them had lived in the shadow of death for so long.

He shook his head amazed at the Athosian's tenacity. "How do you do it?"

Teyla stopped and turned around. "Do what?"

"Live like this, I mean, always wondering when the Wraith will come back and if they will take you or your family? It must be hard to live like that? How do you keep hope alive?"

"We know of nothing else. It has been this way since my people came to this planet, from where we know not, but we made our home here and so we go on. We plant our crops and raise our children the best we know how, finding joy and happiness when we can." She started walked once more. "I can't imagine what it would be like to no longer worry about the Wraith, but I have faith that one day my children will have that chance thanks to your people."

"I can only hope that they will, the Wraith will be defeated." John wondered where his confidence came from. His people had been in the Pegasus galaxy for almost five years now and they hadn't made any headway at all, in fact people would say they had made things worse in many ways when Daniel Jackson woke the Wraith.

She beckoned John to follow her inside the cave as she lit one of the torches stored at the entrance. "This is my people's history. Every year the leader comes to these caves and makes a record of the year's events. See this is when your people arrived and saved us from the Wraith."

John lifted his flashlight and studied the wall. As far as the eye could see there were figures and objects from floor to ceiling. As John lowered his flashlight to study some pictograms near the bottom he caught a glint of something shiny in the dirt. Reaching down he lifted a necklace and showed it to Teyla.

"Look what I found. Do you know whom it belongs to?"

Teyla's face lit up. "That is mine, my father gave it to me not long before he was taken. I did not know where I lost it. I thought it was gone forever."

"Can I put it on you?" John offered holding it out to her.

"Indeed I would like that." Teyla lifted her hair and John closed the clasp.

Teyla touched it and smiled. "Thank you John. This means a lot to me."

He smiled in return. "It looks perfect. Now shall we visit the city before Rodney sends out a search party for us?"

"Yes it is not too far from here." She led the way out of the cave and into the ruins.

Most of the buildings were unrecognizable but there were a few that seems to defy the test of time creating a sense of familiarity for John. As he slowly turned in a circle, some of the ruins jumped out at him and he knew that he'd been here before, not physically but in those dreams or visions. He knew what he had to do, Jayla's home, he had to find it and retrace her steps to find what she needed him to see. It was why she'd brought him here, he was the one she'd been searching for and now he was finally here.

John could almost hear the dead calling out to him as he looked around. He wondered what this place had looked before all the destruction. When he closed his eyes he could almost see it. Trees lined the roadways and adult and children moving along the streets living their lives. Then there was a woman stepped out of the building. It was the woman in white and she headed off in the opposite direction from John and Teyla. He opened his eyes and he saw something out of the corner of his eye.

John moved to catch up with her. If she was here there was something he needed to find. As he fell into place beside her she began speaking. "Janus is waiting for us. We need to hurry. Come along."

"Why are we here Jayla? There is much to do back home. We really should be getting ready, the departure date is fast approaching."

"I know but Janus said he would help me. Now please be silent and let me speak with him."

In the distance there was a man, who John assumed was Janus, standing in the doorway of a building.

Jayla greeted the man. "Janus thank you for seeing me. I know you are defying the council to help me but I feel what I have been able to do is too important to be left to chance."

"I agree your people have long been our allies and now it grieves me that we are abandoning you, there is hope."

"I understand, we should not leave anything to chance. I have done it too much in my life." Jayla nodded.

Janus on the other hand laughed. "This is why we chose your people to help us all those years ago. Come let us get to work, time is of the essence."

John followed along as they headed toward the building when a hand fell on his shoulder bringing him out of the trance.

"John are you alright? I have been talking to you for the last ten minutes and you're not responding."

"Yes, there is something-" He turned in a circle looking for the building where the others had disappeared. It had to be here. He closed his eyes ignoring Teyla's questions. When he opened his eyes the city had returned to its former glory and he knew where to go.

He took off running and was soon at the doorway. The building was still standing for the most part and he entered. At the sight of the Ancient Repository he faltered this was the thing that had killed Jack O'Neill but like Jack he had no choice.

Stepping forward he placed his head inside. The last thing he heard was Teyla calling for help, but he knew he was beyond it.


Teyla hurried after John but she was unable to keep up with him. Something was very wrong with John and she had to stop him before he harmed himself.

She entered the building only to watch Sheppard step up to the thing and it enveloped his head. She immediately tried to pull him out but John was stuck tight. Immediately she reached for her radio.

"Rodney, Ronon, something has happened Lt. Colonel Sheppard. I'll stay here but hurry-" She stopped as the thing stopped flashing and Sheppard dropped to the ground. Teyla was barely able to slow his descent before he hit the ground.

Laying John on the ground she checked his vitals. John was still alive and she relaxed sitting back on her heels. An incessant buzzing of Rodney's voice drew her attention back to the radio. "Teyla, what is going on? Are the Wraith there?"

She looked down at the man, was Sheppard all right? "No Warith, John on the other hand is unconscious, I will speak with you when you arrive. Teyla out."

Teyla dug into her pack and covered John with an emergency blanket before sitting down to wait for Rodney and Ronon.


There are two more chapters posted on my site if you would like to check them out Google my penname and you will find me. I love to hear from you whether you liked it or loved it. :0P

Also I have published two original pieces of work on Kindle you can find a link to them on my website as well.