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Chapter 10 – The Return of Home
Just outside Alliance Territory
"The patch is holding," the warrior confirmed from Long Sleep's side.
"It needs to be presentable," Long Sleep replied, more to himself.
"It is something of fate that it is holding at all," the other warrior answered in a quieter tone, closer now to Long Sleep's side so that he would not be overheard by the others in the chamber.
Long Sleep nodded his agreement. The Cruiser had been pushed to its limits even if it were at full health, but with already sustained damage this long punishing flight was almost too much for the ship.
Long Sleep reached out and touched his fingers to the grafted on flesh, feeling the pulsing life of the Cruiser moving through the new tissue. It had accepted the patch of foreign flesh from one of the smaller ships that had not been able to hold together in this rushed flight towards The Signal.
The others had not been so willing to abandon the ship, but Long Sleep had made the decision to bring the gathering to a brief standstill in order to evacuate the drones and warriors from the dying ship and to strip what they could use from the vessel before it was set on a limping course away from them. They could not have the Armoured Herd detecting an abandoned ship, or even its detonation, this close to their territory.
It had been risk enough to cut across a new corner of the enemy's territory, but though it had paid off in the distance and time they had made up, the extra speed they had used to get through that dangerous part of space had called an end to the smallest ship.
The patches from the abandoned ship were put to good use though, spliced into the fluid vessels and conduits of the other ships. Most of the grafts had held and the gathering was once again continuing on towards the pulling urging source of the calling.
The Signal had reached its full perfection, proof enough that it truly was being generated by a real Hive. Though there was little doubt on that fact now anyway, for the Hive was now visible on long range scanners. Long Sleep had studied the scanner images in great detail and with deep thought. The Hive was not alone, as other smaller dots had been detected around it, which meant that other ships had heard the call and had gotten there first; or were the ships controlled by the enemy and this was all an elaborate trap? Was Long Sleep leading his group of survivors into another explosion of destruction and death?
It was a question that haunted Long Sleep, but alongside that fear lingered the hopeful desperation that his genetics could not deny. The promise of a new Queen...it was an elixir of yearning and –
No, he needed to focus. He could not be drawn into the unthinking attitude of many of the others on the gathering's ships. Just because they all wanted a Queen to truly be calling them in did not mean it would turn out to be that way.
They had to be cautious.
But, if there was a Queen waiting for them, then the ships needed to be as presentable as possible. He could not present the gathering if they were a tattered mess unworthy of her love.
Long Sleep withdrew his fingers from the coursing life of the Cruiser.
Soon enough he would know the answer to his questions, would find out if he and his companions were headed towards their salvation or towards further death.
Soon he would either fill the empty painful silence inside his mind and heart, or he would face the enemy again.
If he was going to go into battle again, he would ensure that his ships were ready to rain absolute destruction upon the Armoured Herd this time.
This time he would not run away.
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Tjaru - Athos
Teyla surveyed the echoing emptiness of her new lounge over the top of the full box in her arms. It was the first box of her things to move into her new quarters, packed up from her old room that had been hers since she had been a small girl.
Of course she had lived in plenty of different quarters in the years since, her work with the Elite having providing some of the strangest of sleeping places as well as numerous temporary quarters on various ships, bases, and stations. Though she had permanent quarters on the Sythus and in the Training Facility, it had actually been her quarters here in the Tjaru that she continued to label as her 'home'.
Until today, she had not realised how important her quarters here were to her. As an Elite she should not have kept a home here, should have cut ties to her family, but her life had fortunately not turned out that way. It had been her own decision in truth, not just the fact that she had begun her Elite training at an older age than most, and not just because of Elkaska and Father's influence and respect. No, her heart had never left her family and she had always come back here to the Governing Complex several times a year.
Her visits had grown in number in the last few years, increasing dramatically in the last year, and she suspected that frequency would be more of the norm for her now. Now she was a Political Wife for Athos and the Elite, she had cemented her ties to her Athosian home like never before, and she had to wonder, looking around her bare empty new lounge, if her decision to marry had been unconsciously informed by that fact.
It was so very clear to her how complicated and convoluted her decision to marry had been, where at first she had simply thought it be the best legacy for her to leave for her people...and a way of distancing herself from John. However, it was unwaveringly obvious to her now that her marriage meant far more to her than she had herself realised, and that was even before she had chosen John as her husband.
She had foolishly believed that marrying would not alter her life in any way; that Maloo, who had been her likely husband, would barely register upon her life. How foolish that single premise had been. Her own past denial continued to surprise her.
She remembered Father bringing her in here to her new quarters repeatedly prior to the wedding, suggesting colours for the walls and new furniture if she wished. She had not cared, had said anything would be fine, but that had been denial as well.
Now it was time to move into these new quarters, her first box of items in her arms and assistants already being gathered to carry in her furniture, and she realised how significant a change in her life this was going to be. But it was a change that she could now welcome and it was well past time that she moved out of her childhood room. That those quarters had also been where her relationship with John had come crashing loudly and angrily to a close, made it all the more fitting. Here, she could start new and John's adjoining space would be his to live in during his stays here.
She wandered through the empty lounge towards the open door to her new bedroom. There was already one piece of furniture ready and waiting to be used in here – a wedding gift from Elkaska.
She frowned at the new large bed sitting in the corner of her new bedroom.
Her uncle was not subtle.
It was clearly the largest size he could order - able to fit someone of John's height - and it was clearly a bed big enough for two.
Elkaska had given Zabetha and Rhakshar a similar bed as their wedding present and Teyla had been with him when he had purchased it on Pelydr, so she knew his thinking behind such a gift. He had even dropped a rather obvious comment at that time regarding her and John; a comment she had ignored.
Those days of denial were at an end in all manner of ways.
She moved to the side of the bed, the new mattress giving slightly as she set the box down on its bare surface. Elkaska's message with this gift went far further than just the gift for a new couple though, for the headboard of the bed displayed an elaborate and beautiful carving. The centre of the carving showed both Tjaru and Atlantis, the two cities surrounded by Athosian symbols and Ancestor lettering. She would have to ask Elkaska how he had gotten such an accurate image of Atlantis for the artist, but then if this bed had also been carved on Pelydr, as Zabetha's had been, it may be that the artist had their own unique ability to see such truth.
She reached out and ran her fingers along the raised smoothed design, the lettering spelling out words of unity, peace, and common ground, while the entire design was outlined with flowering vines, a symbol of abundance to her people.
Yes, Elkaska message was not just one of marriage, but of the future that she and John both believed in – a future where by working together their peoples could bring peace to the galaxy.
One particular symbol caught her eye, carved low on the headboard, but very central. She leant forward and ran her fingertips briefly over her people's elaborate symbol for "love". It was a powerful word, in any language.
She withdrew her hand, the word bringing up a wealth of confusion for her in relation to John and this bed.
Though she and John had repaired the basic emotional damage of their arguments and angry words, she had no idea of what the future would be between them. Matters had gotten quite confusing between them, feelings far stronger and more complicated than she would ever have predicted. She knew John felt that complication as well, that he too was cautious about what would come next between them. No doubt her past poor behaviour would make him question matters even further. But, they had parted in reasonably good terms again; had even shared a kiss. That kiss had felt very different to those before it, and her mind had dwelled on replaying it in the weeks since.
It had not been as passionate and intimate as the many kisses they had shared before now, but it had felt more...real than any before. She felt as if she had shared more of her herself in that kiss and had experienced more of John in it too.
That fact was exciting, but it also made her feel quite exposed as well. She had wanted distance from John in order to stop herself feeling exactly what she now pondered; the feelings of love, vulnerability, and the deep fear of losing him.
Then there was the fear of losing herself in this love, and how she was to manage it alongside her work.
She shook her head at her own thoughts; there were no simple and clear lines between work and love when it came to John. He crossed all the boundaries in her life, and that frightened her just as much as it proved to her how important he was to her.
Yet, she also had to face the fact that she and John may not return to their romantic status of before. They may love one another, but a physical relationship might be something of the past.
She wasn't sure how she felt about that. A part of her felt relieved to think that they might keep clearer boundaries between them, that it would protect her sense of vulnerability, but another part of her felt desperately sad to lose him in that way.
She already missed him.
He would be here tomorrow though, and she wanted her new quarters reasonably presentable when he arrived. After all, she would need to show him his new adjoining quarters.
She glanced towards the second door in her bedroom – the one that opened into John's adjoining bedroom. She moved towards the door, pushing it open a little further so that she could look into his new bedroom. Stood in the open doorway, she considered the basic new furniture inside. A simple bed, cabinet, and bedside table were all that filled the room, and through the far doorway John's new lounge would hold nothing else but bare new furniture.
She wondered if she should put some fresh flowers in here tomorrow – something to make his new quarters look more inviting for him.
Sounds rose from the far door behind Teyla; her furniture had arrived.
"If the cabinets could go along this wall," Zabetha was instructing the assistants. "Yes, just along there. Yes, that can go over in that corner." Teyla listened to her sister organising her lounge, unconcerned because she had already discussed with Zabetha where she wanted her furniture.
"Ketra!" Zabetha's tone turned annoyed. "Leave them be," she ordered.
"Ketra?" Teyla called out across her bedroom towards the door to the lounge. "Ketra, come," she called.
Ketra's face appeared in the far doorway, her reptilian features somehow convening a worried frown. She would not like that the assistants were moving Teyla's things.
"All is well, Ketra," Teyla assured her. "Let them do their work."
Ketra looked back into the lounge, Zabetha's voice echoing again as she instructed a cabinet to be shifted a little further to the right.
"It is fine, Ketra," Teyla assured her pet once more, and finally Ketra began padding into the bedroom. Teyla had brought her into these new quarters last night so the rooms were familiar enough to her. Ketra paused by the bed and sniffed along the edge of the box Teyla had left on the mattress.
Happy that Ketra was not going to get aggressive with any of the assistants, Teyla returned her attention to John's empty bedroom.
What was she going to say to him tomorrow? She did not know her own mind regarding him and their future, so how was she to sort out matters with him?
What if he had already decided and she would have to accept that he might not wish to touch her ever again?
What if he had already found another woman?
Ketra pushed past her leg, bumping her physically and emotionally from that disturbing thought. Ketra had not come into these adjoining quarters last night, John's bedroom door having been shut, and she seemed quite confused at the new room.
"This is John's room," Teyla found herself explaining.
Ketra looked up at her and then looked back through the doorway behind them as if looking for John.
"He will be here tomorrow," Teyla told her. Some days she worried about how much she talked to Ketra, but she knew Ketra was intelligent and clearly did not mind the chatter.
"This is his new room," she repeated looking around the bedroom again.
Ketra set her nose to the floor and snuffled her way to the closest wall and then began to work her way along the edge of the carpet. She had done this yesterday with Teyla's quarters.
Teyla watched in quiet amusement as Ketra worked her way along one wall to the first corner, puffed and huffed into the corner as if seeking the smell of something that might be hidden there, and then she began working her way along the next wall.
Teyla suspected John would be pleased to know that Ketra was checking the place thoroughly for him. She smiled at the thought of him, imagining how he would agree, his handsome smile lingering in her mind's eye.
She might not know what to say to him tomorrow, but she was always excited to see him.
To know that he was well.
To see his expressively handsome face, and allow herself to feel that glorious charismatic lure of his presence.
At least she would have that in their marriage – the chance to be around him. It might be that they would now become the friends they had always pretended they simply were before they had become lovers. She would accept that state if it was best, and she would deal with the painful beauty of his presence.
That was true love after all – loving regardless of the outcome for oneself.
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Atlantis
The taste of mint exploded through Sam's sinuses as she brushed her teeth. The toothpaste was one of the perks of her position here in Atlantis. By her feet, tucked under the Ancient sink, she had a box of her own personal favourite toothpaste shipped in for her from Earth. There was nothing wrong with the standard military issued toothpaste that most of the city used, but, for Sam, her favourite toothpaste allowed her a twice daily hit of the taste of home.
After all the places she had visited, all the strange locations she had holed up for a night, she had always had this taste of home.
As she brushed her teeth she reached down and checked on her supply. She had had the massive multi-buy box of toothpaste shipped in during her first month here, but she had enough to last her for a good few more months still. She had been worrying for the last few weeks every time she looked down at this box, wondering whether she would get to finish this box in Atlantis or whether she would be heading back home to Earth.
Not that going back home would be a terrible thing, in fact there was more for her there than here, but she felt she still had so much to do here in Atlantis. She wanted to see things through here before she was moved on elsewhere. Though, admittedly, she didn't have much say in where she was stationed.
Not until the day she gave up her military life.
It was a prospect that she thought about almost daily. To stop fighting and worrying, to have no superiors to answer to, no IOA to mollify, and no life and death decisions. Instead she could have a life...doing what?
She couldn't just sit outside the fishing cabin with Jack every day for the rest of her life.
He couldn't even keep to his own retirement plan.
But, then how many people could turn down a phone call direct from the President?
She smiled a foamy smile at herself in the mirror.
Jack was here – here in Atlantis.
She hadn't predicted his arrival, not in a million years, but it explained why he had gone quiet so long these last weeks. He'd never done that to her before, but she'd known it had been for an important reason.
And there he had been, stepping through the Atlantis Stargate as large as life.
She had felt like she'd been hit by an electric current the moment she had recognised him, before he'd even fully emerged from the wormhole.
Her Jack, here in Atlantis.
It was like another jolt of home.
Her two lives merging abruptly into one.
Her smile, foamy though it was, in the mirror reminded her how infrequently she'd been smiling of late. Life was always complicated, but it had started to weigh on her more than ever before of late.
The decisions made here and now regarding the Alliance had the potential to literally change the course of the future – not just for Pegasus, but perhaps for home too. The whole point of the original Atlantis Expedition had been to find new tech and new ways of fighting their enemies. The Alliance provided that just as strongly as Atlantis itself, perhaps even more so. The Atlantis tech was turning out to be far from easy to recreate, but Alliance tech...that could be traded for, exchanged and expanded on in real time. Atlantis could really make a difference – she could help make a difference.
But, she had been afraid that the IOA was going to pull out of this potential chance. Things were difficult back home and those political issues were so often translated into changes in policy here. Her own stationing following the tragic death of Dr Weir had been proof enough of that. She had been the best choice between science and military, but as the days were changing, she had gotten the impression that she had been becoming too military focused for the IOA's tastes.
But, Jack said they weren't looking to make any changes – for now. Which meant that, for the time being, she still had a job to do. She could still help make a difference here.
How long that faith in her would last was anyone's guess, but at least the IOA and Earth Defence were taking matters seriously here.
That Jack had been sent was significant enough.
It was clear he was taking his role here seriously as well, or at least as serious as Jack got about anything. He'd been very involved in the meetings this afternoon and this evening, asking loads of questions, involving himself in all the discussions. It was a side of him that she knew existed, and he had proven with his many promotions and current status in Earth Defence, but she felt especially proud of his keen military mind at work today. To some he had just been an irreverent and determined soldier, but that was just what people saw on the surface. And at times, she suspected, was all that he had seen in himself.
When they had first started working together she had found him a little difficult to deal with, and vice versa. She had been out to hold her own and ensure that the science of the new Stargate discoveries were accepted even though she was a soldier, and Jack had just wanted that side of things covered without him having to understand any of it. But, as time had gone on, she had learnt to appreciate his directness and clarity, and he had begun to appreciate science and trust her opinion without question.
There were few people she trusted more in this life than Jack O'Neill. But, then she had been fortunate to have friends that she could trust and love without equal.
As she wiped her mouth, she glanced down at the half empty box at her feet. Some days she wished she was back in the SGC. She missed Daniel and Teal'c desperately, along with a sea of other names and faces she had worked with for years. Though she trusted many here in Atlantis, no one could ever take the place of SG1 in her heart. She had been very privileged to be a part of the team at a time when everything had changed for Earth. She had been on the forefront of Earth's first steps out into the Milky Way and now to Pegasus.
But, such work took her away from those she loved.
At least one had come to visit her today.
She hadn't arranged to meet with Jack this evening, since he'd told her he was meeting with Professor Morgan after dinner – an announcement that had been accompanied by a dramatic eye roll that was once again all irreverent Jack.
His quarters were only just down the corridor from hers, the larger rooms set aside for special Earth guests. But, she had to be careful here.
Perhaps she would turn in and read for a while.
The door chimes echoed outside her open bathroom door.
She had an open door policy in the City and it was not unusual for someone to visit her to discuss something important, but it was a little bit late for that tonight. So it might be him...
She slipped out of her bathroom and reached for her bathrobe, only for the chimes to ring again, and then once more.
Only one person would play with the door chimes trigger like that.
With a grin, she forgot about putting on the bathrobe and continued on, barefooted and in her black camisole, towards her waiting door.
The chimes repeatedly rang another few times in the short time it took her to reach the door. She waved her hand over the crystals and the doors parted to reveal Jack outside, his hand held poised about to trigger the crystals once again. He pulled his hand back immediately as if caught doing something naughty.
He angled his head back as if disinterested and serious. "I wasn't sure I poked the right crystal," he announced, his eyes sparkling. He knew how to open the doors here; it was just that there wasn't a switch, button, or trigger in existence that Jack wouldn't play with.
"You don't need to poke a crystal, just wave your hand over them," she reminded him as she turned away to lead him into her quarters.
"Where would be the fun in that?" He asked behind her, which was quickly followed by another triggering of the chimes.
She looked back over her shoulder with a grin as he stepped inside her room, the doors sliding shut behind him.
His eyes lifted up from her only just covered backside, the look of forced innocence so familiar it burst a deep powerful warmth throughout her chest.
"I'm just going to check in for the evening," she told him as she headed towards where her earpiece was sat on her coffee table.
"Go right ahead," Jack agreed from behind her, his voice shifting off to the left.
She picked up her earpiece and slid it into place over her ear and triggered it alive. "Control Room, this is Carter. Anything to report?" She asked as she watched Jack reach the windows looking out at her beautiful view of Atlantis at night. He slid his hands into his uniform pockets and contemplated the landscape of lights and sea.
"All's well up here, Colonel," Fletcher reported into Sam's ear.
"Great," Sam smiled, relieved. "I'm going to turn in."
"Yes, Ma'am," Fletcher replied. "Colonel Sumner is on night duty if we need anything."
"See you in the morning," Sam told Fletcher.
"Night, Ma'am," Fletcher's kind English voice replied before Sam switched off the earpiece and slipped it from her ear.
"You all free now?" Jack asked as she double-checked her earpiece was definitely switched off and set it down on the coffee table.
She looked back at him as he casually wandered along the windows, but his eyes were on her, not the view.
She glanced down at her camisole, bare legs and feet and then back at him. "Just a couple more meetings to go to," she joked.
Jack smiled, his eyes sliding down her. "I'll be honest, I'd be okay with that."
She gave him a knowing look as she headed towards him. "I'm sure you would."
He turned to face her, holding his place as she approached him.
"I've got my special dispensation right here," he smiled as he patted his top left pocket.
She pulled at face at him. "You do not," she told him, her smile breaking free, excitement coursing with her fast beating heart. He was really here, in her quarters.
"I carry it everywhere," he told her.
She reached him, but stopped a few inches from him, not touching him just yet. He still had his hands in his pockets, and she kept her hands away from him – for now.
She looked up the tiny distance between them, his smell filling her nose – another scent of home that both eased but also aroused her. He smelt of laundry detergent, aftershave, and that quintessential musk that was just Jack. It all carried to her in the warmth of his body heat in which she stood, almost touching him.
She looked up into his deeply dark eyes, watching him watching her. She could see the smile in those eyes, the delight of life that he always seemed to hold onto despite the horrors they had both seen.
"I do carry it everywhere," he told her a little more seriously.
He was referring to the very special pieces of paper that they both had. When Jack had been asked to rejoin the military following his retirement, or rather when the President had "begged", according to Jack, he had asked for only one thing if he joined Earth Defence. Jack had asked for a special dispensation for their relationship.
Of all the things he could have asked for from the President of the United States, one of the most powerful men on Earth, and Jack had asked for that.
She had never felt more loved.
As they were still in the same chain of command, it was technically inappropriate for her and Jack to continue the relationship they had begun at his retirement. Well, in truth it had been a relationship that had started long before, but the physical side of that love had only started after his retirement. On the day he had officially retired he had shown up in her office and they had actually had 'the conversation' they had managed to avoid for so long. Until that point, everything had pretty much gone unsaid, but still felt. Deeply felt, on her part. On his retirement day, she had had confirmation that he had felt the same just as strongly, but whether that would translate into a proper 'relationship' had been something of a question.
As it had turned out, it had been only the missing piece of a love she had felt for him for a long time. For all their differences in approach to work and science, they seemed to match each other in the strangest ways. She would never have thought she would end up with a man like Jack, but here he was, her true love. A man who had asked the President to allow them to continue their relationship or he wasn't going to return to work.
The President had allowed the request without a pause apparently, and both of them had been granted an official letter confirming the agreement. Sam kept her copy with her other military paperwork, and quite often she pulled out the letter as the amazing evidence of how much Jack really did love her.
Jack, however, swore that he always kept a copy of his letter on him at all times, in case evidence was required. She wasn't entirely sure when such evidence would be required on demand, but Jack insisted.
They had never talked about getting married, but she realised that maybe the letter was something very close to a ring. Maybe that was why he told her he always carried it with him.
He smiled down at her now. "Okay," he cocked his head slightly to one side, "maybe it's not in that precise pocket, but it's in one of them. You'll have to find out which one," he suggested, his voice lowering, his eyes doing the same, focusing on her mouth.
She was acutely aware of her lips as she licked them and stepped across the last few inches between their bodies.
With purpose and focus, she laid both her palms against his warm uniform-covered chest, feeling his ribs expanding with his breath. Her Jack. Here in Atlantis with her.
His hands slid around her sides, the heat of his hands shockingly hot through her thin silk camisole.
She leant into him and arched her back enough to look right up at him. "I'm so happy you're here," she whispered to him.
"Undomesticated equines couldn't stop me," he smiled back.
The laugh started deep in her throat, breaking free to shake her entire body. He could always make her laugh and bring together so many memories and aspects of their lives in one comment.
She was still laughing as his mouth pressed against hers, but the laughter slid away in the passionate rush of the kiss.
There was no taste quite like Jack, and nothing so meaningful of home as being with him.
She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, holding onto him tightly as his hands slid over her back and down to cup her backside.
Kissing him was being home, was something without any effort or pressure. With everything they had shared and seen together, there were no barriers between them anymore. She quite happily poured her whole heart and soul into kissing him, to pushing the jacket and shirt from his body.
But, as she was just enjoying his bare hands sliding up under her camisole, his lips broke away from hers in a rush.
"Wait," he asked and looked up and around, "where's the bed?"
She grinned, knowing his brain had only just registered that fact from his earlier perusal of her quarters.
"There's another room," she indicated the closed door through to her bedroom. Unlike most of the rest of the City's staff, she had nice large quarters with two adjoining bedrooms.
"Whew!" Jack looked honestly relieved, "Because those Ancients sure liked hard floors, and there's no way these knees are going to take it."
She pressed her lips to his cheek and breathed in against his light evening stumble. "It's okay," she brushed her lips to his ear, "I'll go on top first."
He was still chuckling as they hit the floor together.
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TBC