Title: The First

Author: Galadrielle

Fandom: Highlander, Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis

Pairing: Methos/Jacob Carter, John Sheppard/Paul Davis, Ronon Dex/Evan Lorne, mentioning of Kevin Marks/Sam Carter, Jack/Daniel, Rodney McKay/Katie Brown

Summary: New inhabitants arrive on Atlantis bringing change and secrets with them. What will happen when those secrets threaten to tear the expedition apart?

Warnings: slash, het

Rating: M

Spoilers: Whole Season Three happened as shown. From there on it will change. Sam is now the leader of Atlantis and there is war between humans, replicators and wraith.

Disclaimer: Not mine

AN: Sequel to "The Last"; it would make more sense if you read it beforehand.

Sam arrived after "the Last" which took place at the SG-1 Season 9.

Chapter 01

Methos, AKA Doctor Adam Pierson, felt his body tingle as he stepped through the Stargate and, for the first time in 12.000 years, visited his childhood home.

Retired Major General Jacob Carter stood beside his lover. He was equally impressed by the city of Atlantis but his eyes quickly sought out his daughter. Stepping forward he greeted the soldiers on duty then strode over to her, enveloping her in his arms. "Sam! How are you?"

Sam was surprised, she had known that today new researchers would arrive as well as a new liaison officer but nobody had told her it would be her father and his lover! "Dad!" she exclaimed hugging him back. "Are you the new liaison officer?"

"No, he will be arriving next. I'm just here as Tok'ra ambassador and Adam's watchdog from the Tok'ra!" he laughed before becoming serious again. "The Tok'ra didn't like the fact that the Asgard had an ambassador on Atlantis before they did. Malek suggested me… to be honest I think he knows about my relationship with Methos."

Happily Sam smiled at her father. She'd missed him and the rest of SG-1. "Better yourself than anyone else watching him, right dad?" she whispered then laughed at the flair of jealousy in his eyes. "He looks a bit overwhelmed," she said pointing back at Methos.

Jacob turned to his lover and saw him standing still in front of the gate with closed eyes. "Adam? Are you okay?"


When Methos saw his lover go to his daughter he made to follow but was stopped by a voice in his head. #Welcome back, Methos, son of Moros. You have been gone for some time.#

*Who are you?* he sent back to the gentle and feminine sounding voice.

#I am Atlantis. Do you not remember me?#

*I'm not sure… You're much more evolved than the last time. Back then you were only an experiment.*

#That is true. But the last of the Lanteans managed to give me the ability to learn. I have done nothing else since.#

*Wow! That's fantastic! Can you teach me the Ancient history since I left? About recent history and findings?*

Laughter rang through his mind. #Be at peace, my child. I will teach you everything you want me to.#

Indignant Methos exclaimed, *Hey! Who are you calling a child!*

#I saw you grow up, which means you are younger, which means I can call you child. I will also have to teach you to control your powers. The others here cannot communicate with me. They are untrained even though there are many descendants here.#

*Descendants? Oh, you mean that they've got the ATA gene?*

#Yes, I think they call it by that name.#

*Maybe I can help you get them to take notice of you…*

#That would be much appreciated. Then I could also warn them not to activate devices dangerous to them.#

*Who would be that careless?*

#They do not know anything about the devices they activate but wish to learn. The ones called McKay or Zelenka are the worst by far.#

*I will try to speak with them about it,* Methos promised before coming back to himself.


Methos opened his eyes blinking leisurely before registering Jacob's question. "Yeah, just getting a history lesson."

"What are you talking about?" Jacob went over to Methos.

"Sorry, you couldn't have known…" He smiled sheepishly. "I'm talking about the AI that is Atlantis. She recognized me and started talking to me."

Shaking his head Jacob replied, "No talking to strange women!" Then he laughed at the pout on his lover's face.

"I don't think I can resist, dear." Methos mumbled back, remembering where they were. While Atlantis was an international expedition it was led by the US government.

Activating his radio Methos contacted the SGC through the still open gate. "Jack? We've arrived and all is well."

"Good, old man. The major is getting nervous again so I will send him through. Take care!"

"Will do, Jack!" Methos ended their call and waited for the last new inhabitant to arrive.

Sam looked curiously at the gate. 'Who could this major be?'

The event horizon rippled as the missing member stepped through. Sam heard a surprised exclamation behind her and saw Sheppard standing there with a dumbfounded loopy look on his face. Turning back to the gate she saw what it had been about.

"Paul!" Sam shouted in surprise and confusion. What was Major Paul Davis, liaison officer of the SGC and the Pentagon, doing in the Pegasus galaxy?


"You ready, Davis? Remember to not let Carter push you around!" said Jack standing behind Paul. Leaning forward he whispered, "And don't let anything that happens with Sheppard get to you. Otherwise I'd have to come over and kick his ass. Okay?"

"Yes, sir," Paul answered. He remembered that the last few weeks had been hell before it was decided to send him to Atlantis as the new liaison officer for earth.

'If you had just listened to him it wouldn't have happened that way!' he admonished himself.

After Jack had visited Washington with Jacob and Methos, Paul had decided to start living a little and started a relationship…with another man. It soon turned out that the man, Peter, had just been trying to get into the Pentagon. After three month of being together he had started blackmailing Paul.

Seeing no other way out without betraying everything he believed in Paul had resigned from his position.

-Flashback-

Packing his things didn't take Paul long. Some colleagues came to see him to ask what had happened, but he sent them away. He was angry with himself and hated the fact that he'd just destroyed, not only his career, but his entire existence with the military, and wouldn't even be able to contact Jack or Daniel. With a last glance at his office and a heave heart he left and handed over his entrance card at the reception desk.

Later when he sat at home alone and miserable, it slowly dawned on him what he'd lost because of that bastard. Tears soon started to fill his eyes and he decided that there had never been a better reason to start drinking alone. After the third beer, he couldn't hold his alcohol very well, he decided to shower and go to bed.

Just as he exited the shower, the doorbell rang. For a moment he thought about not answering then the thought of Peter crossed his mind. Enraged he dressed in a pair of jeans and a sweater before running down the stairs.

Without looking through the door viewer he tore the door open and stopped short in surprise. Jack stood in front of him, with Daniel right behind him.

"Paul, can we come in?" Jack asked while silently seething. His friend looked like hell, pale and on the verge of a breakdown.

Silently Paul stepped aside and closed the door behind his friends. Suddenly he was enveloped in two sets of strong arms. Relaxing bit for bit, Paul let the tears come forth again, now not alone in his grieve, trusting his friends to not betray him like… like Peter had.

Minutes later he found himself sitting on his couch, Daniel on his left and Jack on the couch table in front of him.

"How…" he stopped himself after hearing the hoarse quality of his voice.

Jack looked at him and began to explain, "The President called me after hearing about your resignation. He wanted to know if something had happened. Imagine his surprise when he found out that we, as your friends, didn't even know you'd resigned in the first place."

"So here we are. Do you want to talk about it, Paul?" Daniel asked him in a gentle voice.

Shame flooded through him as he thought of his mistake. Trying to hide his face, he looked at the floor. "There's nothing to tell…" he stopped startled when a firm grip on his face forced him to face Jack.

"Don't lie to us, Paul. Something must have happened. You'd never just resign without at least talking to us!" Relaxing his grip slightly and softening his voice Jack almost begged, "Please, Paul, tell us."

Sighing in self disgust Paul said, "After you left I…I felt lonely and started seeing someone. I thought I could trust him. Apparently I was wrong." When both tensed but remained silent he continued, "Last week he started asking me about different assignments, and what I thought about some methods that could be used for more efficiency. Jack, he shouldn't even have known about those assignments. When I asked him, he gave me the choice to work with him or he'd "destroy" me…"

Jack jumped up, angry and concerned for his friend, "And you didn't tell anyone about it? Are you crazy? That lunatic could have killed you!"

"Who could I have told? If they knew I was gay, they'd have had my ass out of the Pentagon before I could even ask for the resignation forms!"

"You could have told us!" Jack looked disappointed at Paul. 'Why didn't he trust us?'

Paul looked as if Jack had just slapped him, "I wanted to, but you were Off-world… and then it was already too late."

"What did he want?" Daniel asked gently. Feeling that at least one of them should stay rational, even when he all they wanted to do was protect their friend.

"He wanted to get into the Pentagon and later talked about visiting Cheyenne Mountain to get back the "alien" you'd stolen from them."

"Them? Who does he belong to?" Daniel asked trying hard to keep the panic from his voice. 'Please not the Trust! Then the alien would be Methos… How could they have known about him? We took most of the evidence with us and burned the rest along with Brook's warehouse!'

"He told me that he belonged to the Trust…" Paul leaned back miserably and closed his eyes.

This confirmed Daniel's fears. Jack was just as shocked, "The Trust? Those damn fucking bastards again!" Jack raised his hands, clenching and unclenching them as he shouted in anger and cursed. 'As if what they did to Methos wasn't enough; now they're threatening Paul!'

"Yeah…I didn't know he was one of them, Jack! Please, you have to believe me!" Paul pleaded. 'What if they think I'm a traitor? Will they still see me as a friend?'

Hands on his shoulder brought him out of these miserable thoughts. "Calm down, Paul. We know you would never do anything to betray the President or the SGC."

"What should I do, Jack? What will happen when Peter discovers I resigned? What if he comes after me? I don't know what to do anymore…" he desperately tried to stop himself from falling into a depression, knowing that nothing would ever be the same again.

"You should sleep a bit. Tomorrow everything will look better," Jack soothed him seeing that Paul was emotionally exhausted. "Daniel will stay with you, so you'll be safe."

Giving Daniel a nod, Jack stood up and went outside. As soon as he sat in his car he hit the steering wheel in frustration before pulling out his phone.

"It's O'Neill. Yes, I know what happened. Sorry, sir, I can't tell you. Yes, I'd probably say that you would have guessed right if you assumed that, without asking, Sir. No, I will take care of that. But, Mr. President, could I ask for a favor?" his voice trailed off as he disappeared into the distance.


The next morning, Jack found Paul sleeping in Daniel's arms. Jack stood there and thought about the picture his lover made, with another man sleeping safely in his arms. He waited for the normal jealousy to appear and was surprised when it didn't. 'Maybe because you love Paul like a brother just like you know Daniel does?' Looking at Paul he saw the exhaustion and pain marring his handsome face and knew that it would take the man some time to let someone in, to try to love someone. Jack just hoped that Paul wouldn't be adverse to the chance he would get if all went according to Jack's plan.

Daniel opened his eyes, blinking sleepily, feeling his lover's eyes on him. When he looked up he saw Jack sitting in the armchair on his right side. "Morning," he yawned.

Jack smiled at the disheveled look of his lover before answering, "Morning. You sleep okay?"

Nodding he looked critically at Jack "You sleep at all?"

"No. I had to take care of a few things."

"For example?"

"For example the fact that Paul's resignation went missing, and that his new position will keep him safely away from the Trust."

Daniel thought about it for a few minutes then asked, "Atlantis?"

"Atlantis," Jack confirmed looking at his now wide awake friend.

-End Flashback-

Paul looked back at Jack and Daniel one last time before stepping through the gate. On the other side he saw Methos and Jacob standing with Sam. And just behind them… 'John!'

tbc