Note: Finally the last part. Sorry it took so long; life has been beyond busy!! I had to rewrite this several times, I hate writing the end to some fics! I am not really happy with it. It worked so much better in my head in 3D imagery and with surround sound, but hey, what can I do?!

--

"Hmmmmmm" Carson muttered to himself as he squinted down at John's bared arms once again. John watched the puzzled expression on the Doctor's face and tried not to find it amusing. Carson then looked up at John's neck and head, his eyes studying intently the areas of blue tinted skin, now very much back to normal. The studied gaze then dropped back down to the computer tablet. John peered down at the lines of confusing medical jargon and quickly gave up, his eyes immediately sliding back to the curtained area, behind which Teyla had been undergoing tests of her own to check her for concussion and such.

"I sent her off to her quarters to change and rest whilst you were in the scanner." Carson said, drawing John's attention back to the Doctor, and also to the fact that he had not been as subtle as he had hoped in looking around for her. So John simply nodded as casually as possible.

"According to these readings, Colonel, the reaction has completely ceased." Carson frowned once more at the tablet resting against his forearm. "In fact I can find no signs of the reaction. As I understand it you still had at least a further two or three days left of this reaction?"

John nodded, but said nothing yet.

"Not only that but I can not find any signs of the reaction in your tests at all, which is strange in itself, as I would expect some residual chemicals to have remained in your blood for at least a couple of days even after the end of a reaction. But, these readings are completely normal. For you." He added with a slight smile. John gave him a studied bored expression in response to the jibe.

"How do you feel?" Carson continued seriously.

"Great." John replied honestly. "Feel like myself again."

Carson nodded as he put the tablet down beside John on the Infirmary bed. "So, I take it something happened on New Athos."

It wasn't a question, rather a statement that the doctor had managed to layer with a whole range of varying tones. John had no intention of sharing what had happened with Carson. Hell, John hadn't even had a second alone with Teyla to talk about what had happened since the Athosian rescue party had found them.

"Yes." John answered enigmatically, keeping his expression as neutral as he could and looked away. Without conscious thought his eyes fell back on the curtained area, but then he remembered she was no longer in the Infirmary. So he quickly looked back at the Doctor and found the man frowning at him intently. John could see the interest bubbling under the surface of his expression, but there was also a touch of sympathy to the man's gaze; he thought Teyla might have rejected John as they had discussed. John felt a massive burst of enjoyment at the fact that that couldn't have been further from the truth, but again he didn't want to share that with the Doctor right now.

"I don't really want to talk about it, Doc." John said.

"Okay." Carson replied, and he managed to hide his obvious disappointment quite well John thought. "I'd like to repeat these tests in two days and see if there has been any change. If not we will just have to wait till next month to see what happens then."

"Great." John answered as he hopped down off the bed. "Thanks, Doc." He smiled over his shoulder as he left the Infirmary as quickly as possible.

After a few minutes of walking through corridors, he realised he was heading towards Teyla's quarters. He stopped surprised at the way he had so instinctively headed towards her even though he was no longer feeling the affects of a reaction. He pondered for a moment whether he should interrupt her now. Carson had sent her to rest, and she had been through a lot over the past couple of days. Decision made he headed towards the 'Gate room. He needed to officially check in the Colonel Carter. Then he would go bring his stuff back from his temporary bedroom on the end of the pier. Hopefully by then she would have had enough time to rest. Not that he had a clue what to say to her yet.

--

Teyla woke with a start. She had lain down on her bed for only a moment feeling the need to rest for a moment but unwilling to sleep during the late morning, however here she was waking from a long heavy sleep. She sat up and looked over at the clock and saw she had been asleep for several hours.

She headed for the washroom and after a quick shower felt refreshed once again. The vague aches and pains she had felt earlier from her trip down the river and the steep climb up the hill, had all but gone. She felt so much better. However she still had not spoken to John, and there remained a slight flutter of nervousness about that approaching discussion. Well, she would face it head on.

She dressed quickly, but with more care than she usually took. She soon realised she was looking at her clothes with a new eye; would John like it? Catching herself thinking so unlike herself she immediately threw on the first outfit in her hand. However, she then changed her mind and pulled on another.

Finally she left her quarters and set about tracking down John Sheppard. After half an hour of searching she had still not found him. Frustration and the ever growing nervousness led her to his quarters once again, but he was still not there. She was almost at the point of asking him where he was publically over the radio, but then realised she had something so much more powerful and personal than a radio; their link to each other.

She took a moment to quieten her mind and then pictured the Athosian landscape that she found so comforting. She imagined the feel of the grass beneath her feet, the breeze on her face and the soft call of the bird circling high above. This time however, she imagined a doorway, like the one she now physically stood before; John's door. She pictured the texture and colour of the door, breathing life and meaning into the image and she stepped up to it in her mind and brushed her fingers against the door.

The response was immediate, his presence suddenly vibrant and warm in her mind. It lacked the intensity that she had felt from him whilst he was undergoing the reactions. Now, it was fainter and quieter, yet at the same time more solid and real; as if the link was less active, but more established than before. She reached out mentally to him, hoping he would understand her request to know where he was.

His pleasure at her contact was obvious and brought a flush of heat to her body, but she focused on the flash of an image she received from him. He was on a balcony at the far end of the pier. She remembered then he had been sleeping in a far room there during his reactions. She sent a response of thanks to him, again unclear as to what exactly he would feel and hear from her. The link dimmed, but she tried to keep the contact as she headed towards his temporary quarters that, she realised, with some great satisfaction, he would no longer be needing.

--

John turned from the ocean back into the large room, his eyes flickering over the pile of clothes and junk that he had heaped up to pack away. He set about tidying up as quickly as possible, suddenly nervous. He still wasn't sure how this fast approaching conversation with Teyla was gonna go, but that brief contact with her had renewed his faith in her affection for him. Her presence had slid into his mind gently and softly, a question without words, but he knew she was looking for him.

He set about clearing up the room, possibly for the last time he realised. He wasn't sure exactly how he felt about that and he stopped to consider the room around him. He had chosen it as it was at the furthest end of the pier, furthest from her, an observation room practically jutting out over the water. Now as he looked at the unusually large ancient windows set in the two side walls and the glass doors to the balcony, he realised he was going to miss this room. It was a strange thought, as up until now he had kind of thought of the place as his prison. However, as he studied the large bright room he finally noticed the beauty of the space. The large windows framed beautiful vistas of the city and the ocean, whilst the balcony looked over nothing but the endless waves of water. It all created a feeling of space, light and freedom. He guessed he had needed, even sought out, that feeling when he had been suffering through the reactions. He wasn't too sure if he would need to come back here next month, but hopefully not. The reactions may no longer occur, or they may be considerably reduced. Or, they may start as usual. The main factor would be whether Teyla would be there with him during the reaction. Would she want to be there with him?

Her presence was growing closer so he turned from the room back towards the balcony doors and sat down on the bed. On the last night he had slept here, after he had all but run Kanaan and Teyla out of the city, he had been hot and angry. He had dragged the bed over to the balcony doors and had finally slept with the cool ocean breeze surrounding him. The bed was still sat there, like an observation bench over looking the view over the balcony.

John was pushing the last of his clothes into the bag at his feet when her presence once again flared to life; seeking him out mentally as she was physically. He heard a door opening down the hallway, so he mentally opened the door to this room for her and after a couple of minutes he heard her step into the room. He looked over his shoulder towards her as she entered.

"Hey, Teyla." He greeted her.

"Hello, John." She smiled, causing his heart to skip slightly. So far, so good.

Teyla entered the room to the magical sight of the observation room, the light streaming in through the large windows and John sitting by glass doors to a large balcony. She stopped to take in the space. No wonder he had chosen to stay in this place. She walked over to the first window and looked out at the view of the City and the ocean crashing up against it.

"It is beautiful here." She said with feeling.

John held back the very sappy words forming on his tongue; that the room was so much more beautiful now for her being here. Instead he just nodded, and watched as she brushed her fingers across the window glass before heading towards the balcony, nearer him. He watched her move, allowing himself to actually admire her openly. He had refrained from doing so most of the time, especially this morning when they had been 'rescued' by the Athosian group, which had included both Kanaan and Halling. John had worked very hard not to look at Teyla any differently, but had ended up pretty much looking at everything but her. Fortunately several of the younger Athosians who had witnessed his leap over the river the previous day had distracted them all with their never-ending questions. John had gone along with the discussion just so he didn't have to talk to Teyla and perhaps give away some clue to the other men as to what they had gotten up to the previous night. John had thought he had hidden it well, but Halling had definitely given him a knowing look before they left through the Stargate.

However, there was no one here but them. Alone at last. And he still wasn't sure what to say.

Teyla moved around the end of the bed and headed towards the balcony doors, which slid open unbidden, but then she realised John had activated them for her. She smiled over her shoulder at him as she stepped out onto the balcony. Below and beyond there was nothing but ocean. She took a long breath of the cool salt laden air and turned back to the room.

John was sat on the edge of a bed his bags were packed and lying at his feet, but he looked in no hurry to leave. The light poured into the room around him.

"You must be sorry to leave this space." She offered, as she stepped back into the room, the doors sliding closed behind her.

John shrugged. "I prefer sleeping in my quarters, but I will miss sparring in here with Ronon."

Teyla's eyes dropped immediately to the white marble-effect floor. It was a running joke in the city that you could tell when Ronon had been training in the gym by the drops of dried blood on the floor. Teyla obviously found much of that evidence here and looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Would you believe me if I said it was mostly his?" John tried, though it wasn't that far from the truth in fact. His new 'Bug Power' as Rodney had so irritatingly named it, plus his reaction grumpiness had all made him much more capable against the large Satedan. Then came the sudden thought; what would it be like sparring with Teyla now? He quickly led his thoughts away from that subject for now and focused on the woman approaching him.

Teyla wasn't sure why his cheeks coloured slightly, but she tried not to smile. She headed over to him finally, sitting down beside him on the edge of the bed, much closer than they would normally sit. His eyes dropped down to the small space between them on the bed and looked up at her with a raised eyebrow of interest and a glint in his eye.

"Did you speak to Doctor Beckett?" She asked.

"He can't find any evidence of the reaction in my system. He was pretty surprised and very curious as to what might have happened to me on New Athos."

Teyla looked down and away feeling heat to her own cheeks as flashes of last night replayed in her mind. She had never experienced a joining so powerful and all consuming before.

"I didn't tell him anything." John reassured her.

She looked back up at him with a smile. "I would be surprised if you had."

"Though you should know he probably thinks we talked and you turned me down."

"Really?" She asked with amusement and surprise, which made him feel even better about the situation.

"I think Halling knows something though, he gave me a very weird look before we left New Athos." John added. "Hopefully he won't say anything to Kanaan." That thought deflated him somewhat. Kanaan was not a subject he liked to think about.

Teyla sensed the change in his mood. "John, I honestly do not believe my people would look badly upon you, and they certainly would not 'kill you' as you thought this morning."

"I don't know. I don't think I'm all that popular there anyway, what with stealing you away to Atlantis four years ago."

"They do not blame you for that. And as for last night I made sure to pick up all of your jacket's buttons if that is what you are concerned about." She baited him.

He looked round, his eyes wide.

"I did not think it would be best for any of my people to find your buttons spread throughout the hut." She clarified.

"Spread throughout?" He said in disbelief, but his mood was lifting once again.

"I found them in most corners of the hut. I only hope I found them all." She teased.

He narrowed his eyes at her and leant closer. "Well, they were in my way." He said with feeling.

They shared an open smile, the air suddenly heavier around them as both remembered exactly what had happened last night. They lapsed into silence, both studying each other.

Teyla looked up at the handsome man before her, his presence so very warm, comforting and exciting beside her. She had been planning what she would say to him on her walk over here along the pier, but now all those practised words felt too pale compared to what she felt. So she said nothing, but saw that he needed to.

"Last night…" John began. "That wasn't how I would have hoped to start…I mean that we..." He trailed off. Any words he came up with didn't seem right. He knew what he really wanted to ask; did she want to be with him?

Teyla reached up and touched her fingertips to one side of his chin, drawing his attention away from his stumbling words and worries. He looked at her with both hope and caution in his eyes and she leant in towards him. He met her halfway; their lips touching for the first time.

The kiss was gentle and searching. John reached out, sliding one hand around her waist and pulled her closer to him. She shuffled closer along the edge of the bed, her thigh resting against his. Lips slid over one another, not moving deeper yet, the kiss soft and full of unspoken emotion. They parted eventually and rested their foreheads against one another.

"That was a long time coming." John whispered.

"Yes, it was." She said back softly.

"There are some things we need to talk about." He said. "They probably won't let us stay on the same team anymore and…"

"We should talk to Colonel Carter." She agreed. "Later."

John pulled back from her enough to see her eyes clearly. She reached up to touch his forehead, following the lines of blue down to his jaw.

"Could you…care for a smurf like me?" He asked in an amused tone, but she heard the vulnerability under it. She smiled, remembering who and what the smurfs were from his childhood memories.

"No, but I can love you just as you are." She said softly.

His eyes widened at the words, so amazing to actually hear them spoken out loud and to him. He blinked down at her and worked to remind himself that this was not another dream. This time she was really here with him. So often had he dreamt of her coming to him in this room and now she was really here. She was really here, warm and so close, looking up at him with desire in her eyes. He reached out and trailed his fingers down the side of her throat, then down and across her collar bone, tracing the line of her body under the fabric of her top.

His touch was soft and exploratory, so different to last night. Then he had been in such a hurry to satisfy and join. Now, he touched her almost reverently. She sighed at the tingling over her skin as his fingertips trailed back up her throat. His eyes followed the line of his touch and she watched him; watched the darkening of his eyes and the parting of his lips. She looked down at his strong forearm against her and began trailing her fingers across his arm. Her caress slid over his sun touched skin, across the subtle blue lines and back to his own original skin colour.

His caress reached her chin and as he rubbed his thumb over her lower lip, she leant back in towards him, sliding her own hands up and over his shoulders, pulling him towards her. He came to her very willingly and this time the kiss was instantly heated and deep. She pulled him, as he pushed her, down onto the bed and this time they took their time, enjoying one another completely and both certain in the knowledge that this was right.

As they lay spooned up together on the bed afterwards they watched the setting sun through the glass balcony doors. John pulled a tendril of hair away from the back of her neck and pressed his lips to her skin and then whispered his love to her as the sunlight vanished into a new night.

--

THE END