"Look at you go!" Lydia said laughing.
Little Mailk giggled at the Colonel as he crawled across the mess hall floor. Lydia walked in front of him, walking backwards so she could watch him. The bruising and bandage were gone from her nose, but her nose was still tender. Just as the John's arm was out of the sling, but he still had to be gentle with his arm and shoulder. Both still had a one more week to go until they could be cleared for missions.
"You're a little speedster, aren't you?" Lydia said in a baby voice.
"Why are you talking like this?" John asked in the same baby voice.
"Oh," Lydia straightened up and went back to her normal voice, "I guess that's just the way I talk to a baby."
Lydia had stopped walking, making Malik stop as well. He sat down on the floor and began to suck on his thumb.
"No way, little man," John said picking him up with his newly healed arm and pulling his thumb out of his mouth, "no sucking your thumb."
"Teyla said it was fine." Lydia said. "Torren did the same thing and he grew out of it."
"Where is Teyla?"
"Seeing as we won't be on missions for another week, she and Kanaan wanted some time alone. They left for new Athos this morning and won't be back until tomorrow."
"Why didn't anyone tell me?"
"Ronon was supposed to tell you."
"Well, he didn't," John said.
"He was probably having too much fun with Torren." Lydia said pointing behind her.
Ronon sat at a table with Torren, the two playing with Torren's wooden toys. A few were in the shape of humans. There was also a stargate, Wraith dart, and one that looked like a puddle jumper. Torren had two people in his hands that seemed to be running around the table. Ronon had the dart and puddle jumper making them chase and shoot each other. The dart flew into the stargate, causing Ronon to pretend there was a huge explosion. He threw his hands in the air and made a 'boom' noise, accidently hitting some toys onto the floor. Torren began to laugh, his smile taking up most of his face. Ronon laughed along with him, his deep laugh booming through the mess hall.
"Why doesn't this seem like the first time Ronon's played with Torren?" John laughed.
"Teyla said they became very close while Atlantis was gone." Lydia said.
Malik had taken his thumb out of his mouth and now was chewing on his fist.
"Come on, Malik," Lydia said taking the baby from John, "I think it's time for lunch."
-…-
"They'll be fine."
"I don't know, Barkova," John said, "I trust Ronon with my life, but maybe not with kids."
"He'll be fine, the boys are napping."
"So was he when we left."
"Just trust him."
"Ok, I will, but I blame you if something happens."
Lydia shook her head at him as they walked up the stairs from the gate to the control room. The stargate activated behind them. The blue horizon shining behind the shield. Mr. Woolsey came out of his office, meeting the two Colonels next to Chuck.
"It's Major Lorne's IDC, sir."
"He's two hours early," Woolsey said, "lower the shield."
Four people came running through the stargate, Wraith fire coming in after them.
"Raise the shield!" John said as he and Lydia ran down the steps.
Chuck raised the shield, the sound of Wraith warriors hitting it.
"Major, Captain, what the Hell happened out there?" Lydia asked Lorne and Mercer.
Lorne's head snapped in her direction, eye's widening in surprise.
"Oh my God," he said, "Colonel Barkova, you have to see this."
"What do I have to see?" Lydia asked confused.
"What is it Lorne?" Another voice asked behind him.
A brunette woman walked out from behind them and came face to face with Barkova. Only she was Barkova, too. The two women's mouths dropped. Both said the same thing in Russian. John didn't understand what they said, but he could tell they were surprised.
"Rodney," the brunette Lydia said turning around, "I thought you said you turned that device off."
Rodney make made his way up to the group. This Rodney McKay seemed like the other but this one had glasses perched on his nose.
"I thought I did, but I guess it likes to trick people." He said sarcastically.
"Don't give me sarcasm, Rodney." The brunette said pointing a finger at him.
"Look, we were in the middle of a fire fight with the Wraith, what do you want from me?"
"I would have liked to be in our own reality!"
"John," Rodney said racing down the steps, "you'll never believe what I found!"
He stopped next to John and Lydia, scanning over the team in front of him.
"Oh, no, not again." He said, looking at the other McKay. "Please tell me you don't go by Rod."
"No, what idiot would go by the name Rod?" The other McKay said looking disgusted.
"Oh, thank God."
-…-
"They're all who they say they are." Jennifer said walking out of the infirmary.
""They're human? No replicator parts?" John asked.
"All human, they're just from a different reality."
"Now we just have to figure out a way to get them home." Rodney said.
"We'll that should be easy for you, McKay. Especially since there are two of you." Lydia said.
"Yeah, two heads are better than one." John said.
Rodney gave them a look and went to find the other Rodney. Lorne and Mercer came down the hall to the two Colonels.
"Sir, Ma'am" Lorne said, "what's going on? Why did you call us down here?"
"There's something you two need to see."
Lydia and John led them into the infirmary where their doubles were sitting. The doubles stood up from their beds and stood across from their look-alikes.
"Alternate reality?" Lorne asked Sheppard, looking away from his double.
"Yes." The other Lorne answered.
"This is so weird." Mercer said.
"Not as weird as seeing myself with short hair." The other Mercer said who was sporting a long ponytail.
"I haven't had long hair since I was sixteen."
"Really? I've never even entertained the thought of cutting my hair that short."
"Why don't you all get to know each other while the two Rodneys figure out a way to get you al home?"
-…-
"So, do you dye your hair blonde?" The brunette asked, taking a bite of her sandwich.
"No, this is my natural color." Lydia said.
"Really? That just seems so weird. In my reality, mom's the only blonde in the family."
"Verusha, mom, and I are all blondes here."
"Verusha, too? That's so weird to think about."
Lydia took a sip of her water as her counterpart took another bite. Lydia looked at her hands and almost spit her water everywhere.
"You're married?" She asked, pulling the woman's left hand closer to her face. Around her ring finger was a thin silver band.
"Yeah, I'm guessing you're not."
"No, I'm not." Lydia said. "Please don't tell me you're married to Nick."
"That jackass reporter? No, I broke up with him before I went to Atlantis."
"Before you went to Atlantis? You went on the original mission?"
"Yeah, been their ever since. You didn't?"
"No, I was supposed to, but then some personal things happened and I missed the mission. I did become leader of SG-2 on Earth, which was pretty cool. I was reassigned here four months ago and co-lead with Sheppard."
"Co-lead? In my reality, Colonel Sheppard is military commander and I'm second in command."
"He's a full bird Colonel?"
"Yeah."
"Well, don't tell my Sheppard that. The damn IOA practically made the US Air Force not promote him. They said that either he would stay Lt. Colonel or he would become a Colonel but be forced out of Atlantis."
"So, the IOA is full of assholes here, too."
"Yep." Lydia said. "So, tell me who you're married to. What's he like? Do I know him?"
"Well," the brunette said smiling, "he's a military man. He's tall and very handsome. So sweet and romantic. We've been together for about three and a half years and have been married for almost a year."
"He sounds amazing."
"Yeah, but he can also be a huge pain in the ass and knows how to push my buttons." She said laughing.
The two women laughed together, the sound filling the mess hall.
-…-
"How did you get here?" Rodney asked his doppelganger.
"We were on a mission and found an Ancient device connected to the gate. I didn't disconnect it, not knowing what it would do if I did. After hacking the device, I found that it was designed to make black holes for the next wormhole dialed to go through –"
"In turn, making the wormhole go to an alternate reality." Rodney interrupted.
"Correct." McKay said cleaning off his glasses. "Next thing I knew, a hive ship was above us and darts were raining down. Lydia, Mercer and Lorne were firing back while shouting at me to dial back to Atlantis. I thought I had turned off the device, but obviously I didn't."
"Why would they make a device that does this?"
"Who knows? Why would they make the Quantum Mirror or that device that makes volcanos?"
"Device that makes volcanos?"
"Oh, I guess you haven't found that yet." McKay said nervously readjusting his glasses.
"Anyway, we need to figure out a way to get you home."
The two men worked for almost a half an hour. Fighting over the computer and who was right. Rodney told himself to be a little nicer to Zelenka since he was a lot more stubborn than he thought he was. They sat silently for a few minutes. Rodney looked over the man; they were exactly the same except for the glasses. Rodney stopped at his hand and found the indentation of a ring on his finger but no ring.
"Are you married?" he asked.
"I used to be, but Katie and I separated a few months ago." McKay said without looking up from the computer.
"Katie Brown?"
"Yes, are you two together?"
"We were a few years ago, but things didn't work out. What happened?"
"I paid too much attention to my work." He said looking up.
Rodney took a mental note in his head, wanting to make sure that never happened between Jennifer and him. The two men sat silently for minutes, only paying attention to their computers.
"We just need something to help direct the wormhole through the same black hole." McKay said taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes.
"Oh my God," Rodney said, "that's it. We just have to tweak it a little."
-…-
"Unscheduled off world activation." Chuck said as the gate activated and the shield went up.
John, Woolsey and the two Lydias joined Chuck.
"I'm getting an IDC."
"Whose is it?" John asked
"I don't know." Chuck said. "It's enough numbers for an IDC, but I don't recognize it."
"I do," alternate Lydia said, "you have to lower the shield."
"How do I know you telling the truth? I could be letting anyone or anything in." Woolsey said. "Or if they are from your reality, they might get stuck here too."
"I am telling the truth! Please, you have to let them through." Barkova said.
"I say we do it. If they walk into that shield, they're dead." Lydia said.
Woolsey looked between the two and John and told Chuck to lower the shield. A few moments later, three people came through the gate. The brunette went racing down the steps with Woolsey, John and Lydia behind her. The three people looked around Atlantis.
"I knew this was going to happen." Woolsey said looking at an alternate Sheppard, Teyla, and Ronon.
"Lydia, what happened?" the alternate John asked the brunette.
"Rodney found an alternate reality device and just had to mess with, accidently sending us here. Why are you here?"
"When you didn't return we went to find you." Teyla said.
"I guess the device is still on, because we dialed home and ended up here." The alternate John said.
-…-
The two Ronons were practically staring each other down. The alternate Ronon still had his dreadlocks and had a more shotgun-like weapon. The alternate Teyla sat on her bed talking to Jennifer. Teyla and Kanaan were still on New Athos, but Chuck had contacted them about the situation. John waited for his counterpart to put his jacket back on and led him down the hallway.
"So, what's Mr. Woolsey doing here?" The alternate Sheppard asked.
"He's the leader of Atlantis."
"Really? Dr. Elizabeth Weir is our leader."
"She was our original leader, but she passed away a few years ago."
"I'm sorry," Sheppard said. "Are you military leader?
"Co-leader with Barkova. Aren't you?"
"No, Lydia's my second. I'm a Colonel and she's a Lt. Colonel."
"You're a full bird Colonel? IOA screwed me out of that one."
"Oh, wow, it's weird how many things can be different."
"Yeah, how's your fight with the Wraith going?" John asked.
"I guess it could be going worse. There's a Wraith queen trying to align all of the Wraith together. She calls herself the Queen Mother."
"She already rules all of the Wraith here. Although, her rule isn't exactly stable yet. Is Todd helping you?"
"Todd?"
"He's a Wraith commander that helps us from time to time. He's tall and has a star like mark around his left eye."
"Oh, him. We call him Kevin." Sheppard said. "And I he doesn't help us anymore. We used to be in an alliance, but then he became the Queen Mother's second in command. He gave her all of our secrets. We should have never trusted him and I wouldn't trust him anymore if I were you."
"Yeah, I've been thinking about that ever since the last time we saw him."
The two men walked in silence for a few minutes. John looked up and saw the redheaded nurse he liked pass them. Her hips swayed and her long red hair bounced as she walked. He stopped and watched her walk towards the infirmary.
"What are you doing?" His alternate self asked.
"Come on, I know that we're the same person which means you have to think that nurse is hot."
"I'm married." Sheppard said holding up his left hand, a thick silver band around his finger.
"You're married?" John asked. "To Nancy?"
"No, to a woman on Atlantis." Sheppard said. "Do you mean Nancy Bryant? Are you married to her?"
"I used to be, but we got divorced years ago."
"I never married her. I broke up with her when she met another guy. I think his name was Greg. Or was it Grant?"
"Grant Curtis?"
"Yeah, that was him."
"Nancy married him after we got a divorce."
"It's also weird how many things turn out the same."
-…-
"You have twin girls?" Teyla asked.
"Yes, Charin and Tagan. They are full of energy and do nothing but run around." Her counterpart answered.
"That sounds very familiar." Teyla said watching Torren run around the table they were sitting at.
The two Johns, Teylas, Ronons and Lydias sat around a table in the mess hall. They were all talking at once, causing the rest of the people in the mess hall to have to talk over them.
"We've got it!"
The two Rodneys came racing into the mess.
"We know how to get us all home." McKay said pushing up his glasses.
"Then tell us, Rodney." Both Sheppards said at the same time.
"This morning Zelenka and I were searching a lab in a part of the city we've never been to before. We found a sort of energy weapon that looked a lot like an energy weapon the Asgard had back in the Milky Way. Back in 2006, dozens of alternate SG-1s came through the stargate and our SG-1 was able to send them back by using the Asgard energy weapon to skip through a black hole and take each team back to their own reality."
"Now it took some work," the other McKay said, "but we think we were able to make the Ancients' energy weapon to do the same."
"Why would the Ancients and these Asgard have the same weapon?" Ronon asked.
"After the Ancients left Pegasus and returned to the Milky Way, they, the Asgrad, and two other races made an alliance. The weapon here was probably made first and then the Ancients shared the technology with the Asgard."
"What's the chance that this will work?" Barkova asked.
The two Rodney's looked at each other.
"About a ninety-eight percent chance." They said together.
"That's enough for me to say it's a go." The alternate John said.
John and Lydia looked at each other.
"What do you think?" Lydia asked John.
"I think this is our only option."
"So do I, let's do it."
-…-
Some scientists wheeled in the energy weapon as the two Rodney's worked with the gate controls. Each of the duplicates was saying goodbye to each other in front of the stargate.
"I wish there was a way we could contact each other." The brunette Barkova said.
"I do, too," Lydia said, "I want to meet this husband of yours."
The brunette smirked.
"What?" Lydia asked.
"Nothing. But I do have something else to tell you." Barkova said pulling the blonde closer and whispering. "I'm pregnant, but don't say anything because no one else knows."
"That's amazing!"
"Yeah, I just found out a week ago and wanted to go on one more mission before telling everyone and going maternity leave."
"Congratulations, I'm happy for you. You better tell that little one about me someday."
"I will." Barkova said hugging Lydia.
"It was nice to meet you, John."
"You too, John."
The two men shook hands.
"Don't forget what I said about Kevin or Todd or whatever you call him."
"I won't, I'm definitely going to be more cautious about trusting him now."
"And another thing," Sheppard said, "I was womanizer, too, before I married my wife. But I've got to tell you, committed relationships aren't that bad. Especially with the fact of knowing you're going to have sex almost every night. As long as you don't screw up or say the wrong thing."
"I'll remember that."
The stargate activated behind them and the shield went up. The blue wormhole made the room brighter, contrasting with the black night outside. The scientists flicked a switch and the energy weapon fired through the gate for a few minutes. The two Rodney's came down the stairs and joined the rest.
"That should be it." Rodney said when the weapon shut off. "You should be able to go home now."
Everyone said their final goodbyes. The two Teyla's said goodbye, bowing their heads. The Rodneys shook hands, wishing each other good luck in the future. Zoe and her doppelganger hugged. The Lornes laughed at what one of them said and shook hands. The Ronon had a silent goodbye, nodding their heads to each other.
The seven people turned and walked through the stargate. The gate shut behind them and the group dispersed. John and Lydia walked silently down the hall towards their quarters. Most of Atlantis's citizens were sleeping, only the night guards and night owls were up.
"You know what the weirdest part of the other Sheppard was?" John asked.
"What?" Lydia answered.
"He was married."
"How is that weird?"
"I've just never been able to imagine myself getting married again."
"But technically that wasn't you, that was him."
"I know, it's just all confusing." John said. "But another strange thing was that he kept avoiding telling me who he was married to."
"Now that you mention it, the other Lydia was married, too, and also avoided telling me who her husband was."
"You don't think," John paused.
"What?" Lydia asked when John stopped her in the hall.
"You don't think they were married to each other."
Lydia looked at him, thinking of the idea.
"She did say that her husband was a military officer. They also called each other by their first names, even though he was her superior. They were also very concerned over each other."
"We're married in another universe." John said slowly.
Lydia started laughing. John couldn't help but laugh too.
"Why are you laughing?" He asked.
"It just seems so weird to think about." Lydia said. "Us, married."
"It does seem pretty strange." John said. "You're becoming more like a sister to me."
"Yeah, I also don't think you could handle a serious relationship, Captain Kirk." Lydia smirked.
"You've been talking to Rodney too much."
"That and it's obvious that you've got a thing for that nurse. And don't think I didn't see you eyeing up that scientist at lunch yesterday."
John walked Lydia to her room that was only a few steps from his. They laughed and talked the whole way.
A/N: Once again, I'm sorry this took a while to come out, school and work are crazy. I'll try to get the next chapter out soon and I promise the next one will be an actual mission again. The next chapter might come out faster if I get a nice amount of reviews :)
Just a reminder, I have a list of my OCs and their descriptions on my profile page. I don't want anyone to forget who someone is then have to go looking through the story for them.
"in another life" The One That Got Away by Katy Perry