Disclaimer – I own nothing.

Spoilers – Um… Hide and Seek, First Strike, can't think of any other specific ones…

A/N – I'm really sorry about how long this has taken – I've been very, very busy the last couple of weeks, plus I completely changed my mind as to what was going to happen in this chapter. I decided it was completely superfluous to the story and got rid of it, though I might turn it into a sequel. Anyway, this chapter is all talk talk talk, I hope you like it.

I'm dedicating this chapter to mydaysrgreen, who left me an extra review just to ask for an update, and Rafe who PMd me on Gateworld to do the same. Hmm… I wonder if they're the same person:P

By the way, thanks so much for all the wonderful reviews! I really do appreciate them all!

Ruby x

Chapter Ten

"So they made the machine because of their falling population?" Elizabeth asked as she handed Teyla a cup of tea.

Teyla took a sip and nodded. "Yes. During their war with the Wraith the Ancestors found their numbers dropping severely, and it worried them greatly," she said. "So they created the device. It takes DNA samples from whomever steps onto its podiums. At least one of the people has to have the ATA gene and it has to be a man and a woman."

"That was going to be my next question," Elizabeth said.

Teyla smiled. "Apparently Radek stepped onto one of the podiums not realising Rodney was on the other one, and the device started up," she said. Her grin widened. "It turned on, and they were very panicked for a moment before it turned itself off."

Elizabeth started laughing, but she looked highly disturbed at the same time. "Lord, could you imagine?" She said, shaking her head.

Teyla laughed as well. It was a scary thought.

"They only built the device a year or so before they left Atlantis," she continued. "And many of the Ancestors were… uneasy… with such a clinical method of procreation. It was not used much."

Elizabeth nodded, looking thoughtful.

"We'll have to dismantle it," she said after a moment. "We can't have babies appearing all over the place…" She smiled. "Not that I'm complaining about Jasmine."

Teyla grinned as Elizabeth reached down and tickled Jasmine under her chin. She picked up Soccer the rabbit and held it up to Jasmine's hand, who took it with a smile and bounced it up and down on the floor.

Elizabeth laughed and sat back. Teyla smiled again to see her friend looking happy, and was also very glad to see Elizabeth bonding with Jasmine.

"So, how was the carnival?" Elizabeth asked, tucking her legs under her on the sofa. Teyla did the same on her armchair and smiled ruefully.

"Very… interesting," she said. "We went on many different rides, and I can not say I enjoyed all of them."

Elizabeth laughed. "I never really liked rollercoasters," she said. "Even the small ones at carnivals. John said you weren't well – were you alright?"

"I ate some corndogs that made me quite sick," Teyla explained. "But I am absolutely fine now."

Elizabeth nodded. "You have to be careful with carnival food," she said. "So, did John take you on a Ferris Wheel?"

Teyla could feel her face heating up at the memory of it, and she saw that Elizabeth noticed. She tried her best to sound casual in her answer. "Yes, yes he did," she said. "It was fun." She hoped that Elizabeth wouldn't ask any questions.

No such luck. "What happened on the Ferris Wheel?" Elizabeth said.

Teyla tried to look as innocent as possible. "Nothing," she said. Even to herself she sounded flustered.

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. "Something happened… what was it?" She asked.

"Elizabeth…"

"Please Teyla," Elizabeth said, a teasing smile on her face. "I've been stuck in here for two months. I need gossip!"

Teyla smiled and looked down at Jasmine, who was fascinated by the mobile hanging over her head.

"We almost kissed," Teyla said.

There was a pause. "Only almost?" Elizabeth asked.

Teyla looked up at her. "Yes, almost," she repeated firmly.

"What happened?"

Teyla sighed. "We were on the Ferris Wheel and John made me let go of the bar while it was spinning round," she explained. "When it stopped I fell against him and… well… anyway, the Ferris Wheel started again before we could…" Her cheeks were burning with embarrassment.

Elizabeth was smiling again. "It's like a bad romantic comedy," she said after a moment. "You two are very annoying."

Teyla shook her head. "It was just in the moment," she said.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "Teyla, please, this is me you're talking to," she said.

Teyla looked down at Jasmine again. "It is very complicated, Elizabeth," she said.

"I know it is," Elizabeth replied, sounding sympathetic.

Teyla nodded and smiled sadly. "I really have missed talking to you," she said.

Elizabeth nodded. "Me too," she said. "But that's actually something I wanted to tell you. I was going to wait until John was here as well, but…"

"What?"

"I spoke to my physiotherapist, and she says I still have about three weeks of treatment before I can go back to work," said Elizabeth. "But… she's agreed to come on the Daedalus to Atlantis with me and carry on my treatments there, so I'll be all set by the time it arrives."

Teyla stared at her. "You are coming back with us?" She asked.

Elizabeth nodded, smiling happily. "Yes I am," she said.

Teyla grinned widely and stood up to hug her friend. "Oh Elizabeth, I am so glad!" She said. "Everyone will be so happy to see you!"

Elizabeth laughed. "Even Sam?" She asked.

"Especially Sam," Teyla replied. They both laughed and sat back down.

"When did you find out?" Teyla asked.

"Only yesterday," Elizabeth replied. "I've got so much packing to do!"

Teyla looked round the room and smiled. "I can imagine," she said. "We also have a lot of packing to do – we have bought enough baby things to fill the entire Daedalus."

Elizabeth laughed and so did Teyla, though she was only half joking.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Colonel Sheppard, good to see you again. Take a seat."

John nodded and sat down opposite Woolsey. He was flanked by Shen and Chapman, both looking down their noses at them. They were seated at opposite sides of the table in the SGC briefing room, the Earth stargate perfectly visible behind the IOA representatives. John had disliked the IOA since the way they had treated Elizabeth a year ago – before that too, though he hadn't had as good a reason then.

Woolsey though… Woolsey was different. The guy was IOA all the way through, but he sure as hell wasn't anyone's puppet. In fact, John thought that he genuinely wanted to ensure the SGC and Atlantis worked properly and did what they had to. But he also thought that their opinions on this matter differed. He was definitely one to look out for.

"Thank you for coming in, Colonel," Woolsey said, straightening some papers in front of him.

"No problem," John replied gruffly.

Chapman opened a mission report and leant forward.

Forty-five minutes later, they had gone through all his mission reports for the past two months, and several other off-world incidents he hadn't been present at. The fact that they had got through them so quickly and simply made John uneasy – this was obviously not what they wanted to talk to him about. They were trying to lure him into a false sense of security.

John managed not to roll his eyes at his melodramatic thoughts. Still though, that's what it felt like.

"Well, that all seems in order," Woolsey said, nodding at Shen and Chapman. They both nodded back.

John gritted his teeth. Get to the point.

Shen opened a report in front of her – John recognised it immediately as Rodney's report on the baby-making device. Finally.

"Colonel, you can be under no illusions as to why we wanted to speak to you," Shen said, looking at him sharply.

John thought of several snarky responses, all of which would have made Rodney proud, but decided that it wouldn't help. "No," he said simply.

"This is a very serious… situation," said Chapman. "And one we need to discuss."

"By 'situation' I take it you're referring to my daughter?" John asked, his words like ice.

"The baby that was generated by the Ancient device," Chapman said. "Yes."

John clenched his fist under the table. Smarmy little –

"We have serious reservations about an infant on Atlantis," said Woolsey.

John clenched his other fist as well. "And what are they?" He asked.

"Firstly, we are concerned that your performance as military leader will be affected by the presence of a child," said Woolsey.

"Secondly, we are concerned that the same will be true of the other members of the Atlantis expedition," said Shen. "A child will only serve as a distraction."

"Okay, that is absolutely not true!" John interrupted. The three members of the IOA blinked at him. He tried to keep his voice level.

"When we first got to Atlantis there were plenty of kids on Atlantis," he said. "There were fifteen Athosian children living there, and the youngest was only two. And not a single member of the expedition neglected any of their duties because there were children there, and I'd think they'd be pretty offended to hear you suggesting it."

"Well, since you mention the Athosian children," said Woolsey. "I have a mission report here – written by yourself – in which you detail how one such child released a being made of energy, resulting in the injury of one of your men and the commitment of most of the city's military resources."

John brushed aside the reminder of Ford and rolled his eyes. "Oh come on, that wasn't Jinto's fault!" He said. "He found himself in an abandoned lab and pushed a button – he didn't mean to let the thing loose."

"I did not suggest he meant to set it free, Colonel," replied Woolsey calmly. "But the incident proves my point – there are many dangerous experiments on Atlantis that a child can interfere with without realising, placing themselves and others in danger."

"That wouldn't happen again," John said firmly. "That was during the first few days we were on Atlantis, and it was chaos. There was stuff everywhere, and we didn't know what anything was. Jinto actually discovered the transporters when he got in that lab, which made our job a lot easier."

Woolsey and the others didn't look too impressed, but John wasn't finished. "I'm sure someone would have let it out at some point, and as it turned out it was a good thing that it happened then because Dr McKay had a personal shield that enabled him to get rid of it," he said. "Besides, if we're talking about going into labs and turning things on, there are lots of people on Atlantis – including me – who have screwed up in that department. Adult people."

"Well, be that as it may, a baby would take a lot of looking after," said Chapman.

"There are 250 people on Atlantis, I think we can handle it," said John.

"So you intend to use the Atlantis personnel as babysitters?" Asked Shen.

John scowled at her, and took a deep breath to try and keep his anger in check. "No," he said. "What I'm saying is that there a lot of people who would want to help look after her. I wouldn't use people to do anything - I would never abuse my position in that way!"

"No, I don't believe you would, Colonel," said Woolsey. "But the fact remains that you will have a baby to take care of, and will have split loyalties in Atlantis if she is there."

John frowned. "Are you saying that someone in the military can't have a family?" He asked.

"Of course not –"

"Thousands of soldiers and airmen have kids, and they manage to do their jobs!"

"Those soldiers don't have their children living on base with them," said Chapman.

John raised an eyebrow. "Okay, that's just not true," he said. There was a moments' pause.

"Let's leave the baby aside for a moment," said Woolsey, shuffling his notes.

"Jasmine."

"Pardon?"

"Her name is Jasmine," said John calmly. "Jasmine Emmagan Sheppard."

John saw the significant glances and had a feeling he knew what was coming. Deep breaths. Don't let it get to you.

"We have another, very serious concern," said Chapman. "Namely your relationship with Teyla Emmagan."

"We are very concerned that this child – Jasmine – will bring about a serious change in your relationship," said Woolsey.

Deep. Breaths.

"Well, obviously," said John, pretending that he didn't understand what they were getting at. He needed time to gather his thoughts. "We have a daughter now, which means we'll have to stay friends for at least eighteen years."

"That is not what we mean, Colonel," said Chapman.

John looked him straight in the eye. "Then what do you mean?" He asked.

Chapman didn't back down. "Are you romantically involved with Teyla Emmagan?" He said.

John stared back at him. His fists were clenched again. "That is none of your business," he said.

"Colonel, it is a reasonable question," said Woolsey. "You are the military leader of Atlantis and Miss Emmagan is a member of your team."

"Teyla and I are friends," said John.

Woolsey nodded. "I know," he said. "I don't really believe that you would have a romantic relationship and keep it a secret."

"Good," said John.

"My concern is that this – Jasmine – will cause your relationship with Miss Emmagan to develop into something beyond friendship," said Woolsey.

John didn't know what to say first. He settled on the simplest.

"So?"

Woolsey blinked. "Excuse me?" He said.

"So what if it did?" John said. "Teyla isn't in the military. She isn't even from Earth. We wouldn't be breaking any rules."

"She is under your command, Colonel," said Shen.

John folded his arms and sat back. "Teyla is the leader of an entire people. She can beat anyone on Atlantis in a fight – and frequently does – and is one of our main assets when it comes to trade and negotiation. She chooses to be a member of my team. She's not under my command," he said. "Fraternisation regulations don't apply to us."

"Colonel –"

"He's right, Richard."

John jumped to his feet as General O'Neill walked into the room, his hat under one arm, his eyes on the IOA panel.

John saluted sharply as he neared the table, and General O'Neill saluted back, a little more carelessly. "Sheppard, I was in the neighbourhood, thought I'd stop by," he said. "I hope you don't mind."

John was so glad for the back-up he wanted to hug him, and that urge didn't come over him too often. He shrugged instead. "No problem, Sir," he said, smirking slightly.

"Richard, you don't mind if I sit in for a few minutes, do you?" General O'Neill said, looking over at Woolsey.

Woolsey raised an eyebrow, not looking too impressed. "Of course not General," he said. "Have a seat."

General O'Neill took a seat and John sat back down as well.

"Right, so what were we talking about?" The general said. "Oh yeah – Teyla and Sheppard. They're not breaking any rules."

"That's debatable, General," said Chapman.

"You can debate it all you want," said General O'Neill. "But you'd still be wrong."

Woolsey held up his hands to stop Chapman retorting. "Alright, let's just accept for argument's sake that they wouldn't be breaking any rules," he said. "That actually makes the situation more serious. In that case we are faced with two members of Atlantis' flagship team involved in an open romantic relationship, a situation which would be bound to drastically change the dynamic of the team and their performance."

John narrowed his eyes. "I don't see that it would," he said. "I am perfectly capable of separating my professional and personal lives."

"I know you are not naïve, Colonel, so please don't pretend to be," said Woolsey.

"Teyla is a good friend of mine," said John. "So are Ronon and Rodney McKay. I have to order them into life-threatening situations on a weekly basis, and I always have. They all know what it means to be a member of my team, and I know what it means to be the leader."

"So you're saying that if you and Teyla Emmagan were engaged in a romantic relationship your actions towards her would not change?" Asked Chapman.

"As a member of my team, no," said John. He smirked. "I imagine they'd change in other ways though…"

Woolsey rolled his eyes. "Colonel, please, this is serious," he said.

"I don't know why we're still talking about this," said General O'Neill. "The bottom line is that you can't stop Sheppard starting a relationship with Teyla. Move on."

"General, it is not for you to dictate the direction this meeting takes," said Woolsey, glaring at the General, who just rolled his eyes. "But we will move on."

"I would like to return to the subject of the baby," said Shen. "It is simply not feasible to raise a child on Atlantis. The baby can not be allowed to return."

"She's coming back with me," said Sheppard. "It's not negotiable."

Chapman leant forward and clasped his hands together on the table. "Colonel, do you really think it fair to raise a child in a place as dangerous as Atlantis?"

John rolled his eyes. "Atlantis is a lot safer than most places on Earth," he said. "Jasmine will be surrounded by some of the smartest people in two galaxies and protected by the most well-trained military Earth has to offer. She's got a huge extended family on Atlantis and New Athos – she's a damn lucky kid!"

"But with the constant threat of the Wraith…"

"What about the constant threat to Earth from the Goa'uld and the Replicators and the Ori?" John retorted.

Shen arched one eyebrow. "Those threats have been neutralised," she said.

John folded his arms. "I wonder how long it will be before you find a new one?" He said peevishly.

"Colonel, be reasonable –" Chapman tried.

"She's my daughter," said John.

"She was generated in an Ancient device less than a week ago!" Said Shen.

General O'Neill put his hand on John's shoulder to prevent him jumping up, and spoke before John could. "That's out of line!" He said. "It doesn't matter how she was born, she's still Sheppard's kid. And take it from me that it takes no time at all to love your child, so her age has nothing to do with it."

"The baby will severely hinder Colonel Sheppard's duties on Atlantis," said Shen.

"No, she will not," said John through gritted teeth. "And her name is Jasmine."

Shen pursed her lips angrily but didn't answer.

Woolsey sighed. "The bottom line is that Atlantis is a military base, and is not the place for a child of any age," he said.

"No it isn't," said John. "It's not just a military base. It's a city. You ask the people who live there where home is, and most of them won't say Earth. The people who live there really live there. It's not just some posting to us. It's our home."

"The Atlantis personnel don't go back to houses at the end of the day, like the SGC staff," added O'Neill. "Sheppard's right."

Woolsey opened his mouth to say something, but John cut him off. He was beyond ticked off now.

"Jasmine is travelling back to Atlantis on the Daedalus," he said. "We're going to raise her in our city, and she's going to be the most loved and well-cared for kid in the galaxy. She's not against any rules, she's not going to get in the way of anything, and when Teyla and I have six more children the natural way, they won't get in the way either."

General O'Neill snorted. "Only six?" He asked.

Sheppard shrugged. "We'll see," he growled.

General O'Neill stood up. "I think we're finished here, don't you?" He said.

Woolsey, Shen and Chapman also stood up. "We will be submitting our report," was all Woolsey said.

General O'Neill turned to face John as he stood up. "I saw the President yesterday, Sheppard," he said. "He said to tell you congratulations, and that he'd love to see a picture."

John grinned. "Thanks Sir," he said. "I'll be sure to get one to him."

Woolsey snapped shut his briefcase in what John considered a very melodramatic manner. "We'll be reviewing this case in three months, Colonel," he said. "We'll be in touch."

John nodded. "Okay," he said. "Talk to you then."

And with that he followed General O'Neill into Landry's office.

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