AN: Okay, folks. In this chapter, we get to find out who the mystery man is! Hold onto your seats, it's gonna be a bumpy ride. I promise, it'll all make sense really soon! LOL

Enjoy as always, and please leave feedback!

LEGOs and Love

by scarlet79

Chapter 14

The hallway was blessedly empty, but standing outside a certain door in the crew quarters section, his heart still thumped in his chest. He considered giving up on this fool's errand; he still had time to turn around and go back to where he came from, as Keller would likely not awaken for an hour, at least. But the longer he thought about it, the more he realized that he needed to do this, and quickly.

Waving his hand in front of the door, he breathed a sigh of relief as it slid open immediately, and he slipped inside. On the bed, a woman's form lay under the covers, completely ensconsed in the comforter except for the very top of her head. The range of emotions he felt surge through him at the sight of her left him confused. He wanted to hurt her, and yet his heart fluttered as he thought of her smile, at the memory of the feel of her skin against his. He wanted to reach out and touch her again, but when he remembered the way she had treated him, he wished that he had never met her.

Quickly, before he could stop to rethink his plan again, he strode over to the bed and yanked her up by the arm. She screamed in panic, but when his weapon dug into her side, she stopped at once.

He looked at the creamy skin of the woman's face and cursed as he realized that he did not recognize this woman – she was not the one he was looking for – but rather than release her, he pulled her closer to his face, unable to suppress a sneer as her eyes widened further, and her skin paled in fear.

"Where is the woman whose room this was?" He rasped at her, and she shook her head in confusion.

"Teyla?" She asked, and he shook her once in frustration, causing her to squeak out a terrified yelp.

"Yes!" He barked, squeezing her arm harder. "Where is she?"

The woman swallowed thickly, caught between her desire for survival and her loyalty to Teyla. She was sure that this man meant to harm Teyla, but she also knew how strong the Athosian woman was, that she could take care of herself in a fight. Still, she didn't want to be the one to cause harm to Teyla, even indirectly. She was new to Atlantis, having just arrived a few months ago, but even so she had quickly befriended Teyla by taking her class on Bantos fighting. Already she felt a kind of kinship with the woman.

"Where is she?" He asked again.

Finally, she managed, "In the next tower. Up one level, then over. Third door from the end of the hall."

At last, he released her arm, and she scooted further away from him, gathering the covers up at her chest. He straightened up and lifted the weapon toward her heart, and panic took over in her eyes once more.

"Oh, please!" she begged. "Don't kill me!"

"You will not die," he promised as he pulled the trigger, stunning her as he had Keller.

Her last thought as she slipped into unconsciousness was that Teyla would forgive her, and that she would be okay.

Only half-awake, John curled his arm around Teyla's body, pulling her closer to himself. His nose pressed against the back of her neck, breathing in her sweet scent, and in her sleep, Teyla's lips curved into a smile. Then, he heard a strange noise in their room, and his eyes snapped open, at once fully awake.

There was someone else there.

Even in the pitch black, he could feel them there, standing at the end of the bed. Careful not to give himself away, John shifted slightly, tilting his head down so he could see their feet. Just enough moonlight filtered through the window for him to make out a solid form standing just where he'd thought. His heart immediately began to pound in his chest, but he forced himself to stay calm as the intruder made their way around the side of the bed, toward Teyla.

John tried to remember where he'd left his sidearm, and recalled that it was in the drawer of the bedside table directly behind him. There was no way he was turning around to get it; reaching for his gun meant that he would have to take his eyes off the intruder, as well as leave Teyla in the open. No, he would have to think of something else.

He kept watching the stranger, trying to figure out who it was, and his breath hitched in his chest as fortune shown on him and the man bent down to stare at his fiancee's face.

Kanaan.

Now that he knew who the intruder was, John felt anger rush through him, and he boldly sat up and said, "What the hell are you doing here?"

Kanaan lifted the stunner and fired at John, but the colonel had been ready for such an action, and he rolled out of his side of the bed, muffling a curse as his still-sore leg jarred with the impact. He yanked the table drawer open and grabbed his sidearm, then hopped to his feet and leveled it at Kanaan, at the same time mentally giving Atlantis the order to turn on the lights.

As light flooded the room, Teyla bolted upright, her eyes wide as she took in the standoff happening before her.

"Kanaan?" She asked, somewhat confused as to why he was there.

Without taking his eyes off John, he nodded. "It is me, Teyla."

"What do you want?"

"Who cares what he wants," John growled, "he was sneaking around in here while we were sleeping."

"Where is Torren?" Kanaan asked, but John shook his head.

"You can't have 'im."

"Do not make this difficult, Colonel Sheppard," Kanaan said. "You have already stolen my love away from me. Do not think I will let you take my son so easily."

Now, Teyla slid out of bed and stood between the men, making John's heart rate rise more than a few notches. Facing Kanaan, she said, "He is not your son, Kanaan."

Confused, the man furrowed his brow. "What do you mean?"

"We have discovered that Michael took John's DNA and combined it with mine, to make Torren. He was never yours, as we had thought." She took a step toward him, her hand out to touch his arm. "I am sorry."

As he took in her words, Kanaan shook his head. "No!" he shouted then, pulling away from her. As she stepped back to stand beside John, he continued, "No, you are lying, in the hope that I will not take him back. But it will not work."

Just then, Torren awoke. Feeling the tension, he began to cry from his crib in the next room. Kanaan turned toward the sound, and John took a step forward, cocking his gun as he moved.

"Don't do it, Kanaan," John warned. "He's my son. If you try to take him, I will kill you."

"I do not wish anyone harm," Kanaan gave his own warning, "but I must have Torren, and I will do what I must to get him."

John shook his head again. "I can't let you. I won't."

Kanaan sighed. "Very well. Then try to stop me."

The Athosian man turned around again, and John moved to fire his gun at him.

"John, don't!" Teyla shouted, pushing his arm up at the last moment and sending the bullet into the ceiling.

John had just enough time to glare at her before Kanaan rushed toward them and knocked them all to the ground. John's hand reflexively dropped the gun, and he heard it clatter somewhere under Teyla's dresser. Great, he thought as he kicked Kanaan off of him and stood up. There's no way I'm gonna reach that in time.

Kanaan struggled to his feet and rushed once more toward Torren's room, but Teyla jumped on his back, a desperate cry torn from her throat. Her fingernails dug into his shoulders as he tried to shake her off, and when he finally dumped her onto the bed, she reached up and punched his jaw. It hurt, but he remained upright.

"I had hoped to do this the easy way," he told her as he lifted the stunner and hit her with a single shot.

Spurred on by both the sight of her laying unconscious and Torren's hysterical cries, John brought his fist down on Kanaan's arm, knocking the stunner from his hand. As soon as it fell to the floor, he stomped down on it, hard. It shattered into pieces, and he took the opportunity to send an elbow into Kanaan's windpipe. The Athosian lost his breath for a moment, but recovered unusually quickly. Reaching down, he grabbed John's leg and pulled upward, knocking John onto his back. Though he had not been aware of John's injury, Kanaan grinned in satisfaction when the colonel instinctively reached down to cradle his thigh, then slammed his fist hard into John's face.

John blinked as darkness crowded into his vision, and he fought against the sensation. If he went down now, Kanaan would take his son. John was sure if that happened, he would never see Torren again, and that thought filled him with more fear than he had ever felt in his life – more so than the thought of being dropped alone in the middle of a Wraith hive ship, with no weapons.

Growling against the pain wracking through his leg, John rolled onto his hands and knees, then grabbed for Kanaan's leg, intending on bringing him down to the floor as well. Kanaan grasped John's left wrist and pushed it back, and John uttered a cry as they both heard a sickening snap. His grip failed, and he cradled his injured hand to his chest, but still he refused to relent. His other hand quickly snaked out and pinched the nerve in the back of Kanaan's knee, and the man instantly sank to his knees. John punched him again in the jaw, twice, and a half-grimace, half-smile twisted his lips as blood began to flow freely from Kanaan's mouth. Kanaan managed to slide out of his grasp, and slammed the heel of his palm against John's nose. John felt, rather than saw, the blood gush from his nose as more blows rained down on his face, bruising his cheekbone and splitting the skin of his cheek and lip open. John tried to stand, but his head swam so much that he started to get nauseous, and he sat back down hard.

All this time, Torren's cries had continued to echo around them, and John silently hoped that the noise would reach outside into the hallway, and that there would be someone there to hear. The pain in his wrist was becoming worse, and he could tell that his muscles were beginning to swell up. As much as he hated to admit it, he needed help, and fast.

Kanaan gazed at the man before him. It was only a matter of time before John's strength gave out, but he knew John would fight every single moment until then. Perhaps it was true, then; perhaps John truly was Torren's father after all. The thought angered Kanaan greatly. First, Teyla had chosen to give John her heart instead of him, and must have decided then that Kanaan was only useful as a warm body for when John was not around. Then, Michael had chosen John as a more suitable specimen for his research, despite the fact that Kanaan, in his mutated form, had been a dedicated servant to Michael. Even John himself had mistreated Kanaan, always suspicious of his intentions and actions, even after he had been returned to his former self.

So many had betrayed him.

Kanaan smiled. And now, he thought, it is time for me to exact my revenge.

Standing up, he watched as John's pain-filled gaze followed him. "I am sorry, John," he told the man seated at his feet, "but I did warn you."

John's breath hitched as he saw Kanaan head toward Torren's room. "Kanaan!" he cried. "Don't..." he dragged himself across the floor, smearing blood onto the carpet. Again he tried to stand, but he began to trip over himself even before he had gotten his feet under him.

Torren's cries became louder, and John realized then that Kanaan had returned to the main room, with John's son in his arms. Kanaan stopped to look down once more at John, and smiled thinly.

"Say goodbye, Torren," he said to the little boy, who only sobbed harder, his face so red that John worried he would stop breathing altogether.

Then, Kanaan gave a swift kick to John's gut, and he could no longer hold back the darkness.

TBC...