Title: Out of Control
Author: SlayersGrl
Summary: A routine trading mission goes awry when a member of Atlantis's flagship team is taken hostage by a mysterious entity.

Chapter 11: Epilogue

He wasn't really sure what had awoken him. It was either the soft yet incessant beeping of the heart rate monitor or the gentle sound of snoring coming from somewhere off to his left. Either way, he was instantly annoyed that he had found himself waking up from another bout of unconsciousness.

John looked around and saw that his team was sprawled out in various forms around the room. McKay had fallen asleep over his laptop, Ford was leaning back in his office chair in what had to be an uncomfortable position, and Teyla was fast asleep with her head lying in her arms on the edge of his bed. He chuckled slightly at the sight causing Teyla to stir.

She was startled to see him sitting up. "How long have you been awake?" she asked while trying to rub the last remnants of sleep from her face.

"Not long," he replied. Their short conversation seemed to have awakened their other companions because Ford suddenly lurched forward and nearly feel off his chair. And the snoring from McKay's side of the room stopped as he raised his head.

"How are you doing, sir?" Aiden asked, glad to see their team leader safely in the land of the living.

"Great, actually," John replied with a smile. "What happened though? The last thing I remember we were all in the briefing room."

"The entity decided it wanted to make a grand exit," Rodney responded. "It nearly got you killed."

At his look of confusion, Teyla smiled. "I do regret having to shoot you Major."

His expression only deepened at that comment. He quickly ran his hands over his body trying to find a wound. Funny… he didn't feel injured…

"Relax John. Fortunately, it had no effect. The entity created a shield of some kind to protect you and it."

"Oh…" He paused for a second and then added, "So it's really gone?"

"Apparently," McKay replied. "It left through the Stargate."

"Too bad we couldn't get it to charge a ZPM before it left…" Ford muttered.

Rodney interrupted his musings. "Wouldn't have worked. You heard what it said. It never learned how to power things."

"Yeah, but it still would have been nice…"

Teyla remembered a question she had been meaning to ask once the major had awoken. "Why did the entity let you go? We thought it was going to take you through the gate with it. It said something about not taking you away from your family…"

John smiled wryly. "Well… I just convinced it that there was a group of people that was too important to me to abandon."

Teyla understood what he was trying to say. She placed each hand on his face and leaned her forehead to his in the typical Athosian greeting. "I am honored you consider us family." McKay and Ford each smiled and nodded in agreement.

He then decided that was about as much sentimental outpouring as he could take. He quickly cleared his throat and donned his best tough guy persona. "Alright, I think it's time the three of you got some sleep. In your own beds." He added the last part to head off the impending flow of arguments.

The others looked amused and then in unison replied, "Yes Dad!"

He groaned and then laughed along with them. He watched as they slowly filed out of the room, each wishing him good night. But he knew they'd be back in the morning. And with that thought he happily drifted off to sleep.

> > > > > > > > > > > >

Final note: Wow, almost 25 pages from an idea that started out as a page and a half outline. Thanks for all the positive feedback! I'm so happy I finally finished a story! There's hope for me yet!

Anyway, since this is my first complete work, I'd appreciate any comments you might have now that it's done. Is there anything you especially liked or disliked? Were any parts confusing or just weren't explained well enough? Were there any scenes that you'd like to me expand upon or add? Any ideas for improvement in this or future stories? The chapters are rather short since I was somewhat rushing to get the story written before my inspiration died. But I am willing to go back and add some things to make the story clearer now that it's all written down.

Oh, and just to let you know, the plot bunnies have been attacking… I now have 3 Atlantis fics floating around in my head. I just have to pick which one to write first…