Very close to the end, but not before some excitement comes our way very soon! And thank you to those that leave me reviews that help me to better my writing. Not all your questions will be answered, and some are hidden within the context, but most are for you to picture in your mind, but some will be supplied. :)

Thank you to those of you still enjoying this story. I do appreciate all your comments.

All errors are truly mine.

Part 10

"Will you let me drive?" John almost yelled in Kanaan's ear.

"What? I can't hear you?" cried Kanaan who was driving like a maniac bouncing up and down in the front like a lunatic.

John wasn't surprised that Kanaan couldn't hear him. Between the splattering storm roaring outside, the unruffled Toyota engine howling and the horrible driving in the rain, no one could have any sort of conversation.

John cupped his hands round his mouth. "I said, try to stay on the goddamn ground!"

"Oh, sorry. I just recently learned how to drive shift. Completely new experience for me."

Idiot, John thought.

He looked to his left, and there she was. And she was married to this moron?

John sat back and tried to wipe off the raindrops streaming down his face. The others were certainly prepared since they had their goggles on, but what the hell did John know. Until a couple of months ago, he was driving his brand new Porsche.

They hit another pothole and John flung forward hitting his head on the backside of the front wheel chair where Kanaan was sitting. Ronon didn't kill him with his stunner back in the room because both he and Teyla yelled at him to stop right before he shot the damned thing right at his head. But this moronic-idiot will kill him if he doesn't slow down soon.

"I. Said. Slow. Down!"

"Too slow and we'll get stuck in the mud." Kanaan shouted over his shoulder.

"What about the FRACKING mines?" John screamed.

John had never been to Athos, but he had heard the many stories of the dead-barren soil, filled with old mines abandoned there by a once brutal and cruel war between the Athosians and the Genii.

"We believe there are none in this area." She finally spoke over her shoulder. She was sitting next to Kanaan, but he was sure that wasn't the reason for his lousy mood. There were plenty of other reasons besides him being jealous at knowing she was actually married once, and to this lunatic, for crying out loud!

"Really? You believe? That's very reassuring. Thanks!" John shouted trying to sit back in his seat while Ronon slept through the entire thing. "Why don't you try actually driving on the road, Kanaan."? John shouted.

Not only was John in a foul mood, but also he was starting to sound like the whiney Rodney McKay, and that really annoy him to no end.

"Sure." Kanaan cranked the wheel hard left and they bounced back into the rut.

What the hell was he doing here? Ronon, Kanaan and his beautiful ex-wife who still didn't have a name certainly belonged here, but not him. I guess he should be happy that they were still alive or better yet, that he was still alive.

Damn he's so out of his game, here.

Unlike her, who was sitting shotgun and clinging to a grab handle on the dash, her expression of determination set in its ways.

She was the mastermind behind all of this. She was the leader and he still didn't know her name. And talking wasn't going to do any good with the raindrops falling on them like buckets full of water being poured down his head. Sure, this was a nice jeep with a nice friendly group of whackos that were driving around with a topless roof, but that didn't mean this was a nice excursion ride.

John tried hard not to lose it at the moment. He's used this kind of adrenaline rush all the time in his favor, but right now, he wasn't the one behind the wheel. It was this asshole, who had this gorgeous woman sitting right beside him, in a low cut flowery dress that enhanced her perfect figure, a figure that he got quite an eyeful and then some.

Kanaan must be not just a stupid moron but also a crazy stupid moron, John thought to himself. How could any man ever leave a woman like this?

"We're here." She said, as her face got closer to the windshield confirming her statement.

"How can any of this look familiar to you?" John wondered. It was dark, it was cold, it was barren land and they were in the middle of nowhere.

Ronon shifted from his side. "I can smell the tava beans already."

"We should wait until morning to get him inside." Kanaan said.

"No," she replied. "Charin is expecting us." She opened her door, while the car was still moving.

John's heart stopped beating before he breathed in again.

"Hey, are you trying to get yourself killed?" John cried, and she smiled at his obvious concern for her, but the vehicle had already stopped.

"Come, Charin is expecting us." She turned to Kanaan, "Go and rest. I will see you in the morning." Her eyes met Ronon, but nothing was said between them with spoken words.

John watched the young woman and was amazed once again at her graceful form. Beauty and confidence, a true skilled full woman.

Captivated by her, John said nothing but looked towards Ronon who padded his shoulder as if to ease his worries.

Not working.

It was so dark that John couldn't really see where they were, and it was still raining hard which didn't make things any easier. The heavy mist made it tough to see more than a foot ahead, and the falling water he could hear from not too far gave the feeling that this wasn't your local run down village.

"Let us go inside," John heard her say. Then she disappeared into the swirling mist, pushing through the curtains of clear water.

Following in her footsteps, more by instinct than by sight, he had entered the sudden wet stillness inside a cave mouth. For a minute, flashbacks of things that had occurred long ago resurfaced brightly in his mind and John found himself on all alerts at an impending doom that was way too long in the waiting.

A piece of sheared-off bamboo was set on the ground and he'd planned to use as a weapon. From behind him, Ronon waded in, stamping his sloshing boots and wiping the water from his eyes. The man was calmed as a feather, and that eased John a bit.

Ronon tapped him on his shoulders, and John swore he jumped a bit startled because the gruff looking man was smiling again while shaking his head.

Following for what seemed like forever, John finally caught up with the woman and simply couldn't see where this was going.

"You know, I don't even know your name?" He was never good at small talk, but this is as better a time as ever.

"Yes, you do." She replied, not once turning back to look at him, but he was sure she too had a smile on her face.

This kind of torture was one John wasn't quite used to and he was sure he'd rather be strapped to a bedpost, at this point.

Still, this mysterious cloud hanging over his head wasn't very pleasant at all.

"Will you remind me?" He asked. Then he noticed her hands on the cave walls, as she pulled a metal contraption much like a lighter, but much more sophisticated and nothing like John had ever seen. She used it expertly to turn on one of the stalks hanging on the ledge of the rock wall. Instantly, fire sprung from the contraption lighting the stalk.

She must have seen the surprised look on his face for she immediately spoke to him. "My people have not always lived in such conditions. We were once a powerful and technologically advanced race."

"So, I see."

She stopped, and lighted something above the rock walls. Writings of some sort were displayed clearly. Upon closer inspection, John realized that this was something of great significance to her and to her people.

"We have been fighting this war long before my people ever existed. Good against evil has always been a defining cause in the history of our existence. Yet, there has always been a factor that has broken the ties within a period of time."

John listened carefully, completely forgetting that Ronon had left them behind.

He moved closer to the writings on the wall, and was much closer to her as well.

"Who did this?"

"It was written by my ancestors as a means to record what has occurred, but I also believe it is a sign of what is yet to come, or what is to be repeated."

John stood right up front to the wall now, his fingers gently touching the alien forms.

"Do you know what it means?" He asked, curious himself as to what it all meant.

"Wars come and go and people die so that others may live. My parents carried a heavy burden on them, and now it is up to me to restore what was in their power to balance our worlds once again."

"Your parents?" With her, it was hard to distinguish whether she was referring to her actual parents or of her people in general.

He walked further noticing more writing on the wall. Way too much for him to even begin to figure it all out, and besides that wasn't his area of expertise. Elizabeth would kill to see this, but even more so her friend back at the SGC, Daniel Jackson.

"Why did you bring me here? I'm not an expert in this area." He wanted to know what role she saw in him for all of this.

"You are the key to our future. A future where our children can benefit in a world of harmony and peace."

Children? He had never really thought of a family, at least not for a while. Yet seeing this strong beautiful woman in front him made him think of what beautiful children she would have, and what fears and dangers set marked on her forehead. Dangers that she couldn't always foresee, couldn't always win. And it bothered him to see her this way. She deserve better. Deserve a family. Deserve peace and happiness.

Still, that she thought he was the key to it only shocked him further.

He turned to her then, his puzzling look clear on his face.

And she smiled.

"Come, Charin is expecting us." She turned then, but John continued to see the writings on the wall. There was a battle clearly depicted there, one in which different worlds were represented. He could tell by the clear and distinct designs on each aircraft and weapon displayed. Something great was about to happen, and a burst of tingling sensations cursed through his body.

John knew this feeling. It happened to him every time he flew a fighter-jet, every time he was sent on a mission and every time he had to solve a case.

Yet, this time, this felt so much more. This was huge and significant and way out of his league. Because it had been a very long time since John care much about anything, and this...this he would care about.

And suddenly being strapped to a bedpost with a gun in his mouth was nothing compared to what he was feeling now.

For in a sick and twisted sort of way, and in his complete excitement of what's yet to come ahead, John had to admit one thing; He was scared shitless, but he was going forward with whatever this is, head on.

~TBC

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