Thanks to the anonymous reviewer who pointed out a mistake in Part Two. Somewhere along the way I had forgotten that Rodney is allergic to citrus. It's now been nicely fixed to ice tea with no lemon. :)

Review Response:

Lorency, thanks for the review!

jnp, thank you so much. I've got one more part planned and then there's a brief possibility for a sequel, depending upon time constraints in my life.

Dr. Dredd, just because you don't like kids doesn't mean you can't be good with them. I've a really good friend who hates kids but is the children's librarian. They love him and he's really good at the job. But that scene was inspired by the episode "Childhood's End" when the kids followed him around and kept bugging him. They seemed to be drawn to him because he didn't like them. :)

Part Three

John hummed tunelessly to himself as he waited for someone to open the door. He turned and looked up at the setting sun. Once again, he was showing up unannounced on his cousins' doorstep. As soon as he had been cleared from the mountain, he had hopped on a plane to San Francisco.

Ever since they had made it back to Earth, he felt as light as a feather. He was back on his world, basking under his sun, and about to see the six people who meant the most to him. That's not to say things were perfect - the wraith were still out there - but things were, at the moment, perfect for him. There had been times over the past year that he had feared that this day would never come, but the fact that it had, made the moment even sweeter.

The door swung open behind him and he turned to see Phoebe staring at him in surprise. "Bad time?" He asked.

Shaking herself out of her shock, Phoebe grinned and hugged him tightly. "For you? Never," she said brightly. Then she whispered, "I was so worried about you."
"There were a few close calls," he admitted, "but I'm still here."

Phoebe released him and wiped away a few tears that had fallen. "Come inside, everyone will be so happy to see you."

XXXXXXX

He looked around at his loved ones as he tried to take everything in. It seemed that he hadn't been the only one who had an adventuresome year. From the looks they had given him when he arrived, he had a sneaky suspicion that they had an idea of what he had been up to as well. His cousins cared too much about him to allow him to easily dismiss Phoebe's vision from his last visit.

"So Leo, you're mortal, Paige has her own whitelighter chargers, you rid the world of evil only to change it back, changed your identities, lost the Book and then the house, got it back, returned to your correct identities, and just reclaimed the house yesterday with the help of the local slayers," John said in slight disbelief. "Did I leave anything out?"

"I think that covers it," Paige said, shifting her arm in the sling she wore. She had dislocated her shoulder during the fight the day before.

"And again, I wasn't here to help," John said in disgust.

"John, you can't blame yourself," Piper said.

"Yes, I can," he said, standing up and starting to pace. "We're family and I should have been there for you."
"You had your own responsibilities and people who depended upon you," Piper said gently. "We've never blamed you..."

"But you should!" John cried. "Uncle Victor isn't always there for you either! I..."
"John!" Phoebe said, interrupting him. "We're not alone, we have each other. Just knowing you want to be here for us means a lot. I wish we could have been there for you."

He stilled and let out a nervous laugh. "For me? What are you talking about?"
"Phoebe told us about her vision," Leo said.

"Where were you?" Paige asked. "We scried for you, but couldn't find you."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Piper sighed and walked over to him. "We know that whatever you were doing and were up against was not typical military. We don't even think you were stationed... well, we think you were somewhere else."

John looked over at Phoebe. "What exactly did you see that day?"

"I say a huge circle of glowing water, you fighting something that looked like a demented elf from the Lord of the Rings movies, something attached to your neck, you were flying some ship in outer space, you sitting in some sort of high tech chair, and the last one you were in the middle of some sort of explosion," Phoebe listed.

They all looked to him for a reaction and were shocked when he started laughing. He laughed so hard that tears rolled down his cheeks and had to lean against a chair for support.

"I should have known that I wouldn't be able to keep it a secret from you," he said finally, wiping the tears from his face. "There were a couple of times that I thought about calling you for help, but I wasn't sure if you'd hear. It didn't matter, I was able to fix things or one of my friends did."

"But where were you and what have you been doing?" Piper asked.

John sat down and explained everything to them. He knew he was breaking a lot of regs by doing that, but he felt that these were extenuating circumstances. As long as they believed that he was in danger of a supernatural sort, they'd keep digging around until they found everything out. Besides, they were the Charmed Ones and they knew how to keep secrets.

He couldn't believe how great it felt to get everything off of his chest. He could release emotions that he had kept penned up inside for so long. His cousins could relate about the burden of responsibility in a way that few others could.

When he finished they could only sit back in shock. Of all the things they had expected him to reveal, aliens and other galaxies weren't on the list.

Leo was the one who finally broke the silence. "So when do you go back?"

"Go back?" Phoebe asked in disbelief. "He's not going back there, he just got home."

"No kidding. Aliens trying to suck the life out of you. I wouldn't go back," Paige said with a shudder.

"I think he sees it differently," Piper said softly, watching the emotions cross John's face.

Phoebe stared at John. "You're not seriously going back there are you?"
"They need me. And besides, I've made a lot of friends there - Teyla, Ford, and as hard as it may seem, even Rodney," he said, looking down at his hands. "As much as I want to be here for you, they need me more. But it won't be like last time. There's a way for me to get back here if need be."
"How long is your leave?" Leo asked.

"Ten days. I was planning on staying here the whole time. That is, if you're ok with it," he said, a little uncertainly.

"Of course you can stay here," Paige said. "We wouldn't have it any other way, would we?"
"Course not," Piper agreed.

The two sisters looked at Phoebe who seemed lost in thought. "Phoebs..." Piper prompted.

"I was just thinking," Phoebe said. "You said the wraith were really strong?"
"Yeah, why?"
"I know someone you should probably visit while you're on Earth," Phoebe said with a sly look. "She's super strong and she's a little bored at the moment."
"You think she'd go for it?" Paige asked.

"Only one way to find out."

XXXXXXX

John found himself, once again, standing uncertainly outside of a door. However, this time was different. He wasn't sure of the reaction he'd get. It was one thing to show up unannounced on his cousins' doorstep, it was another to do it to a woman he had met once.

Phoebe had urged him to do it this way. She claimed that this way Buffy wouldn't have any time to form preconceived notions about the visit. His cousin swore that Buffy would be more agreeable this way. Personally, he thought it was a load of crap, but Phoebe knew Buffy better than he did. That's how he ended up in Shaker Heights, a suburb of Cleveland, on a nice summer's evening.

He was about to knock again when the door opened to reveal a pretty brunette. "Yes?" She inquired.

"Is Buffy Summers home?"

She crossed her arms and stared at him. "Depends. Who are you?"

"I'm John Sheppard."

"And that means diddley squat to me," she said, not stopping her study of him.

"I met her in San Francisco last year. She was visiting my cousins."

"That makes perfect sense," she said with a roll of her eyes. "Who are your cousins?"
"Phoebe, Piper, and Paige."
"But who are they really?"
He was getting a little irritated by the third degree, but if their lives were as crazy as his cousins' he couldn't really blame the girl for being cautious. Still, it wasn't his secret to reveal so he replied, "I can't tell you that."

"Why?"
"'Cause it's a secret, that's why?"

The girl's attitude changed from hostile to friendly in a blink of an eye. Looking over her shoulder she yelled, "Buffy! Total hottie at the door for you!"

John could only gape at the girl. Did she really say what he thought he heard?

"Dawn! Who is it?" Buffy's aggravated voice said from upstairs.

"John Sheppard!" She yelled back. "You never said he was a hottie!" She accused.

Yup, she said what he'd thought she had.

"I'll be down in a sec!"

"I'm Dawn by the way. Buffy's sister," she said, turning back to him. She moved out of the doorway. "I can't invite you in, it's after dark."
He nodded in understanding and stepped through and into the foyer. "Nice to meet you."

"Sorry about all the questions. We can never be too careful," she said cheerfully. "So you're the cousin they were worried about."
"Excuse me?"

"The Halliwells. They were worried about you. Buffy said she had met you and that you were nice."
"Really? She said that did she?" He asked, more than a little pleased that he had made a good impression. Hopefully that was a sign that this meeting would go well.

She grinned wickedly at him. "She just didn't say how nice."

"Dawn!" Buffy hissed as she came down the stairs. She turned and looked at him. "Sorry, but my sister never seemed to develop that filter in her brain. You know, the one that keeps you from saying and doing embarrassing things."

"It's there. I don't use it when you're around because it's more fun to see you flustered," Dawn glibly replied, before nimbly moving out of her sister's reach and up the stairs.

"Stupid sister," Buffy muttered darkly. She became conscious that John was staring at her. "What? Do I have lipstick on my teeth?" She asked, rubbing at her teeth.

John had found himself mesmerized by her beauty. Several times over the last year his thoughts had strayed to the blonde, and he was faintly surprised to notice that she was more beautiful than he had remembered. Her off-white summer dress showed off her tanned, shapely body, while her golden hair hung down her back in gentle curls.

His heart beat faster and he forced himself to concentrate when she had asked him the question. "Huh? What? No, you look... you look fine, great even." He inwardly winced at how much he sounded like an idiot.

She blushed slightly and smiled. "You're not looking too bad yourself. So what brings to Cleveland?"

"You, actually."

Buffy blinked. "Me? Why?"

"Is there someplace we can sit? This is going to take a while," he said.

"Sure, follow me." She led him into a living room and they sat down on one of the large sofas.

"I've been given special permission to offer you a job," he began.

"I have one," she interrupted. "I'm the slayer."
"True, but according to my cousins the demon business is a bit slow these days."

"A little," she admitted. "I'm a little worried that we might have tipped the scales too far on the side of good again. But we haven't seen any repercussions, yet."

John smiled as he saw an opening. "Or you could have been evening things out without knowing it."

"Huh?" She asked.

He patiently explained to her the stargate, the program, and the goa'uld before telling her about Atlantis and the wraith. "We're offering jobs to you and any of the other slayers who would be interested in defending Earth."

"You mean bail the military out of another sticky situation?" She shrewdly asked.

"No. We have allies who help us so we're not in this alone." He wasn't sure about the previous military experience she'd had, but General O'Neill had warned him about her dislike of them. "You would be helping us defend Earth, and other innocent planets."

"How did they find out about us? Did you tell them?" Buffy asked, her anger flaring in her eyes while her voice stayed low and steady.

"I just suggested that I knew someone who would be beneficial. I told them your name and they got all excited. They already knew about you from something else, I'm not sure what. They told me to assure you that if you refuse they wouldn't bother you again."
The tension left her body as he had explained and her anger faded. She scrunched up her nose as she thought it over. "What about my sister and friends? All of my successes depended upon their help."
"I was told to extend the invitation to everyone."
"These people in Pegasus. They have no defense against the wraith?" She asked.

"Only what little help we can provide."
"Do we get to pick where we go?"
John tried to hide his smile, she had all but said yes. "It could probably be arranged."
"Do we have to join the military?"
"No. We can come up with some sort of title for you. Half the people at the SGC and Atlantis are scientists. Most of them do field work as well," he explained.
"Would we have to answer directly to the military."
"I'm not sure. You could probably arrange something with General O'Neill or General Hammond."

"Could we just quit and leave whenever we wanted?"
"Yes."
"One more question," she said. "When do I have to give you an answer?"
"I report back in five days and leave for Atlantis the day after that. I won't lie. I think you'd be an asset to my team and I'd like for you to return with me."

Her eyes squinted slightly as she studied him for several long minutes. To his credit, he didn't fidget, just stared right back at her. Then a smile broke out on her face and it seemed to light up the entire room. "Your offer sounds... intriguing. But I'll have to discuss this with the others first. You'll have an answer before you leave Earth."

John rose to leave. "Sounds fair enough. Thanks for hearing me out."

Buffy stood and asked, "Where are you staying?"

"I'm gonna check in to a hotel."
"Nonsense. You can stay here."
"I don't want to intrude."
"You won't and we have tons of room in this house. I wanted to make sure friends and slayers had a place to stay if there was an apocalypse."
"Have there been any?" He asked, a little weirded out by her casual use of the word apocalypse.

"Thankfully no. But it also makes life a little boring. If you'll follow me, I can show you to your room." As she led him up the stairs, she asked, "How long were you planning on staying in Cleveland?"
"Just the night. But my plans are flexible," he said with a grin as she stopped outside of a door.

"Good. I think I'd like to get to know you a little better, especially if we'll be working together," she said with a grin of her own.

tbc