Tara: I'm sorry I didn't get you in the last chapter! I'm happy that you enjoy my story so much, and plot twists are what keep people reading :)There'll be more Carson/Almie later on I think and there will be more McWeir and it might involve Andrew but they all gotta wake up first…

Guardingangels86: Your welcome!

Rayne: Nope didn't stop writing. As for the new chapters I'm waiting for a friend to finish reading through them and then send them back so I can change anything if I need to and then post them. Let me know what your story is called so that I can go read it.

Okra: That's revealed at the wedding. Kinda.

Strawberry Cupcake: I'm glad you like it. They do make it thy just may not wake up anytime soon…

Chapter 16

The two of them ran over to stand on either side of Andrew. The young boy cried out again and sat up, breathing heavily and looking around frantically.

"Andrew?" Steph put her hand on his shoulder.

He turned to face her, confusion evident on his face. "Where…"

"You're back on Atlantis," Bates spoke up, "you were all returned. Do you know why?"

Andrew shook his head and turned to look at the others. He quickly turned back to face Steph.

"They're disappearing completely," she told him before he could ask, "you were as well, but not any more."

"They'll wake up soon," Andrew was looking over towards the grown-ups.

"Who?" Bates looked at Steph for a moment.

"Mummy and daddy."

"How do you know?"

"You wrote all about this and I read it when I found the file on the computer," he turned to look at both of them.

"For now, you should get some rest," Steph told him as she helped him lie down again, pulling the cover back over him, "I'll let you know how the others are doing later, okay?"

Andrew nodded and closed his eyes, settling down again. The two of them turned around to see Rodney sitting up and looking around, trying to figure out how he got there and why he wasn't dead yet.

"Dr. McKay," Steph said as she and Bates walked over, "how do you feel?"

"Confused," he replied, "very confused and not dead."

"You were given back," Bates explained, "the others aren't doing so good."

"What do you mean?"

"All the children apart from Andrew seem to be disappearing completely."

Rodney looked over to all the children, seeing what Bates had just told him. He then turned to look at all the grown-ups.

"I'm the first to wake?" he turned back to Steph and Bates.

Steph nodded. "All we can do is wait for them to wake up."

"What is going on?" Elizabeth asked as she looked around the infirmary.

Steph quickly went over and put her hand on Elizabeth's shoulder to steady her. She helped Elizabeth lie down again.

"Take it easy."

"Andrew…"

"Is fine and sleeping," Steph interrupted, "you should be as well."

"Has anyone else woken up yet?"

"Only Dr. McKay," Steph told he indicating the other doctor, "by what we saw with Andrew if the children become whole again, their parents wake next."

"Is there nothing you can do to wake them?" Elizabeth asked as she closed her eyes.

"It's too risky to try. I don't want to end up killing any of them."

"Let me know…" she muttered as she drifted off to sleep.

Several hours had passed and no one else had woken yet. Steph was walking around each of them, taking down their readings. She looked at Teyla's readings and then wrote them down, looking back up to the monitors again. Steph's eyes widened slightly and turned to look down at Teyla, she was lying looking up at the ceiling.

"Teyla?"

"Where am I?" she asked quietly.

"You're back on Atlantis, you were all given back," Steph explained as she put down her clipboard and pen on the beside table, "Dr. Weir, Dr. McKay and Andrew are the only others to have woken. Andrew woke before his parents did."

"Ava, Maigan…" Teyla tried sitting up.

"No, you need to rest," Steph turned to look at the girls in question, "they're transparent as opposed to disappearing completely."

"Major Sheppard…"

"We'll know he's alright if the girls become whole again. For now you need to rest. I'll let you know as soon as anything happens to any of them. I promise."

Teyla slowly nodded and settled down to sleep again. Once she had Steph quickly went to see Bates to tell him what was happening.

A while after she had left Lucy and Alex stretched before sitting up and looking around. The two of them and James had become whole again. The twins got up and went over to see James.

"Are you awake yet?" Alex asked as he poked James' arm.

James yawned and sat up, looking down at his brother and sister. He got up, picked the two of them up and went over to the chair next to Aiden's bed. He sat with them on his knee and the two of them settled down leaning against him and going back to sleep.

"Okay, how'd I get back here?" Aiden looked around the infirmary.

"We got given back," James told him.

Aiden turned to look at him and saw the other two asleep on James' knee, clinging to his top.

"How long you been there?"

"Not long."

"What's going on?"

"Maigan changed the future, we were all given back and are slowly waking up. Andrew, Elizabeth and Rodney woke first, then Teyla, then us and you," James explained, "the girls, John, Almie and Carson haven't woken yet."

"They gonna wake soon?" Aiden yawned slightly.

"Andrew's the know-it-all, I'll ask when he wakes," James smiled slightly.

"You okay with those two?"

"Yeah, it's happened before," James looked down at his siblings, then back up at Aiden, "I'm used to it."

There was a cry from the other side of Aiden and Alex and Lucy suddenly woke up. James passed the to Aiden before going over to stand next to Almie.

"Almie, it's alright," he told her, putting his hands on her shoulders, "it's alright, calm down. You're safe here."

Almie calmed down and slowly opened her eyes and looked around.

"You're on Atlantis with everyone else," James explained.

"How's everyone?" she asked quietly.

"Carson, John, Helen, Keayna, Ava and Maigan still have to wake up, but everyone else is fine."

"Hi," Helen had appeared next to James.

James jumped and then turned to look at Carson, who was sitting up and looking around.

"We're all fine, lie down, rest," Keayna told him, causing Carson to jump at her sudden appearance next to him.

"I take that back," James told Almie, "John, Maigan and Ava have yet to wake."

Almie smiled at him. James went back over to sitting next to Aiden and saw the other two were settled on either side of Aiden and all three were asleep.

"So they've still to wake," Bates looked at the three in front of him.

Most to of them had gone back to sleep. The younger children were all sitting in Carson's office drawing with Keayna half watching over them and half asleep. John, Maigan and Ava had all been moved to one end of the infirmary.

"Yes. Everyone else seems to be fine and by all indications of the twins Major Sheppard should be all right. All we have to do is wait for him to wake up," Steph replied, "all those awake can return to work at the end of the week."

"So as to avoid any complications," Bates guessed.

Steph nodded.

"Any indication on how long it will take him to wake?"

"No."

TBC

A/N: I have not died or stopped writing, I just got a bit of writers block which I'm now currently over.

Time for a few questions to get your opinions, that will shape the nature of the rest of this story:

1. Should John wake soon?

2. Should they have James and Ava's wedding before the children return?

3. And is there anything you'd like to see in the final couple of chapters? (Yes, this story IS coming to an end, though a sequel might happen)

All thoughts welcome and considered.