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Chapter 4: The truth is not out there, its right here

Two days later Kristy finally woke up. She slowly opened her eyes seeing the infirmary again. Sighing she looked around and saw Brian sleeping on one of the visitor's chairs with his laptop sitting on his legs, which were propped up against her bed. She smiled at her second in command and as long as she could remember, her best friend. She heard a noise and saw Dr. Beckett tiptoeing beside her bed being careful not to disturb Brian.

"Good mornin' major" he whispered "How are ye feelin'?"

"Besides my neck feeling incredibly itchy, I feel great" she answered quietly noticing that her voice was still hoarse.

"That's good. It means it's healin'" he said. Beckett saw the surprised look on her face "Your voice will be back to normal in a couple more days" He turned his head to check her vitals, showing Kristy for the first time the large purple and blue bruise running along his cheek and jaw.

"Oh my god, what happened to your face?"

Beckett shrugged "I had an argument with a wall and it won"

After knowing Beckett for her whole life, Kristy knew he wasn't telling the truth but lay there quietly. Then suddenly her memories returned. She looked at Beckett and raised her hand to her mouth stunned at what she did to him and major Sheppard "I'm so sorry Dr. Beckett, I didn't know what I was doing. Will you please forgive me?"

Beckett chuckled quietly "Don't worry lass, it doesn't even hurt"

"I'm sorry, is there anything I can do to make it up to you though?"

"Stop apologizing" he grinned.

"I'm sorry" she said and then laughed with Beckett, waking Brian up from his sleep. "Good morning, sunshine" she greeted Brian as he put his feet down rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

Brian looked at her and almost jumped out of his chair "Kristy, Oh man it's good to see you awake. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine Brian" she said and then looked back at Beckett "How long have I been out?"

"Two days" Beckett answered.

Kristy whistled in astonishment "How have the kids been?"

"They've been fine" answered Brian.

"I'll leave you two alone, I bet you have a lot to talk about and I'll see if I can get breakfast brought to you both" said Beckett and he left.

When Beckett was out of earshot Kristy returned her gaze back to Brian "Report"

"From what I've got from hacking into the database, we're in the year 2005. By my guess, when we went through the wormhole it passed through a solar flare"

"How did you come up with that conclusion?" she asked.

"This happened before with SG-1, remember Uncle Jack telling us about him going back in time with Sam, Uncle Daniel, and Teal'c?"

"Yeah, but isn't the Atlantis DHD supposed to warn us about things like that and/or abort the dialing process entirely?"

"It should of, I think that it sustained so much damage from the attack that it couldn't…or your father decided it was a risk he had to take to make sure we would be safe"

Kristy winced at the mention of her father "Maybe, do you have any ideas on how we're going to get back?"

"Not at the moment, no" he answered furrowing his brow in concentration. "I could really use my father's help with this though" When he looked at Kristy staying silent he knew exactly what she was thinking "We have to tell them, if they're going to help us"

"I know" she sighed "I'll tell them when I get released. At least I'll have some time to tell them what they need to know without giving them too much information"

"Sure thing, now where's that food?" he said rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

Kristy laughed "You are your father's son, always worried about when you're going to eat next"

Brian shrugged and smiled "Hey I can't help it if I'm hypoglycemic" He then pointed an accusatory finger at Kristy grinning "Oh and you're not like your dad at all…almost every other mission you end up in the infirmary"

Kristy shrugged "What can I say I'm good at getting into loads of trouble"

Brian laughed at the comment and then the nurse brought in two trays of food. "Oh wow! Bacon and eggs!" he exclaimed and Kristy laughed out loud.

After a quick breakfast, Beckett returned and gave Kristy his approval for her to leave. Kristy changed back into her uniform and stepped outside to Brian waiting with his laptop tucked under his arm, accompanied by a soldier. "You going to talk to them now?" he asked.

"Yep" she said.

"Do you mind if I tag along?"

"Actually I was going to ask you if you wanted too. I'm going to need all the help I can get" she smiled. Brian grinned back and they went on their way to the control centre. When they reached Dr. Weir's office Brian hesitated at the door. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"It's just…it's weird talking to my mother and she doesn't even know who I am" he said staring off in the distance.

Kristy put a hand on his shoulder in understanding "I know. It's weird seeing my mother when she died three years ago"

"Speaking of your mother, how is Alex coping with her being around?"

Kristy shrugged "I don't think he even knows that she's our mother. Well…I guess we should get this over with" and she opened the door to see Dr. Weir talking with Lt. Ford. They both turned around we they entered.

"Hey, you're awake" said Ford grinning from ear to ear. "How are you feeling?"

"Better than I was two days ago" she smiled back shyly, her change in demeanor not going unnoticed by Brian. Then she looked at Weir becoming more serious. "Dr. Weir, would you mind if Brian and I have a word with you in the briefing room?"

"Sure, just give me ten minutes" she said.

Kristy and Brian nodded and left her office feeling more nervous with every step taking them closer and closer to the briefing room. Ten minutes later, they were sitting at the large table in the briefing room not wanting to meet the gazes of the four adults across from them.

Kristy looked down at a picture of her family she pulled out of pocket smiling at her cheerful nineteen year old self holding her three year old brother. She looked at her parents and saw how happy they were before her mother died three weeks later.

Brian leaned towards Kristy and whispered in her ear "Doesn't it feel like we're kids again? I feel like we're going to get in trouble for something"

Kristy leaned closer "Tell me about it" As she looked at Dr. Weir, major Sheppard, Teyla and Dr. Beckett, she couldn't remember feeling this nervous since she was eleven and she almost blew up a quarter of the city while playing with a naquadah generator.

It wasn't really her fault, she was dared to turn it off by twelve year old Edward Kavanaugh and if she didn't go through with it than she would have been called a chicken, which meant a lot to an eleven year old. So her stubborn pride took over, much like her father, and she went through with the dare. But instead of turning it off she accidentally set it to overload. She was then caught by her mother, who was in the area and was informed of the situation. Her mother brought her to the briefing room where her father, Drs. Weir, McKay, Kavanaugh, and Colonel Bates awaited. She also saw Edward standing behind his father with a smile plastered on his face. When she saw him she knew she was going to get and earful. She explained about the dare, but Kavanaugh didn't believe her, saying that his son would never do anything like that and he took his son's hand and stormed out, not wanting to hear another one of her 'lies'. She got a dressing down from the other adults, but they did believe her about the dare knowing that Edward seemed to be the instigator of most of the fights and problems with the children on Atlantis.

She was snapped out of reverie when Lt. Ford and Dr. McKay entered taking a seat. Brushing her long bangs from her face it was time for her to begin "As you all know by now, I'm Major Kristy Sheppard and this is Captain Brian McKay"

Sheppard put up his hand stopping her from continuing "Sorry to interrupt already, but aren't you two a little young to be that high up in rank?"

Kristy bit her tongue for a second, holding back a sarcastic comment and stared right into Sheppard's hazel eyes "Our home has been in an ongoing war for two years and we unfortunately have been rapidly promoted due to the loss of officers and soldiers"

Everyone was taken aback from her statement and then Dr. Weir was the first to compose herself "Where are you from?"

"Atlantis" said Brian "But not this one of course"

"What do you mean?" asked Beckett.

"Well…ummm…" he started, trying to think of a way to slowly explain the situation to them. Thankfully Kristy already went right to the point.

"We're from Atlantis…and the year is 2030" she said.

Sheppard leaned back in his chair whistling in astonishment. He glanced at Ford to see a smile was slowly creeping across his face, probably thinking that it was the coolest thing he has ever heard. Rodney sat in his chair running possible scenarios and calculations through his head on the possibilities for the children to leap back in the past while Elizabeth just sat there speechless. Only Teyla and Beckett seemed unphased by the news.

"So what you're saying is you're from the future?" Sheppard asked verifying that he didn't misunderstand what was just relayed to them.

"Yes" Brian replied, both he and Kristy trying not to roll her eyes.

"Is there a reason why you came back?" asked Elizabeth.

"No, this seems to have been an accident" said Kristy "What happened was that Atlantis was under attack and we were losing. My father and I were evacuating the survivors to the alpha site while trying to fight off the wraith. Capt. McKay found the kids hiding in the infirmary and we took them through the gate, but we somehow ended up here instead"

"Where is your father?" asked Teyla, seeing Beckett take a glance at Sheppard as she asked the question.

"He died before he made it through the gate" replied Kristy, her voice full of sorrow. Brian whirled his head looking at Kristy and his face went a shade whiter. He grabbed her hand for support when it started to shake from trying to hold back her emotions.

"I am truly sorry for your loss" said Teyla.

Kristy looked up from the spot on the table she was staring at, her eyes bright with unshed tears "Thank you"

"Do you mind if I ask what happened?" asked Sheppard.

Kristy's head snapped up her hazel eyes full of rage "I do mind" she said standing up slamming her hand with the picture on the table. She walked out of the briefing room brushing tears from her face leaving everyone else shocked and silent.

Brian watched her go and decided whether or not he should go after her, but decided to let her blow some steam before talking to her. He also had some more pressing matters to attend to, like trying to find a way home. He went to continue the conversation and noticed Kristy's picture still on the table. He went to grab it, but Sheppard already had it in his hands. Brian watched his expression turn from a small grin to stunned realization at the people in the picture. Sheppard looked up at Teyla shaking his head and put the picture in his pocket. He then stood up and left mumbling about something he forgot to tell Bates, leaving the rest surprised at his hastily exit as well.

SG SG SG SG SG SG

Sheppard saw the picture left behind on the table and grabbed it out if curiosity. He looked at it and saw a younger looking Kristy holding an even younger Alex, both smiling. He smiled back seeing the joy on their faces. Then he looked at the other two occupants in the picture and had to do a double take.

Sheppard was looking at himself, but an older version, beaming with pride at the two children. He had salt and pepper hair and a scar running down the side of his face. His hand was also intertwined with a woman's in the picture that was older, but he identified in a heartbeat. Looking up at Teyla, he shook his head in disbelief. Now, he understood why Kristy was upset. He shoved the picture in his pocket and got up from the table and said that he had to discuss something with Bates, and then left looking for the real person he had to talk to. He grabbed his radio "Stackhouse where's the girl?"

"Sir, she…umm…kinda gave me the slip" he answered apologetically.

Sheppard sighed, annoyed at how well Kristy's been able to evade their security measures "Where was the last place you saw her?"

There was a pause "We were in the mess hall and then she jumped in the transporter. I didn't see where she went and I informed Sgt. Bates of the situation…I'm sorry, sir"

"Don't worry about it. I want you to tell Bates to call off the search, I think I know where she went" he said and hurried off into the city. When he reached his destination he opened the door to see a dark gray jacket thrown on the bench. He walked through the room some more and found Kristy punching and kicking a large punching bag, in the gym. She didn't notice him until he walked up to the bag holding it for her. She stopped and glared at him breathing heavily.

"What are you doing here?" she asked coldly.

"I came here to apologize" said Sheppard. He pulled the picture out of his pocket and handed it to her "Here, you dropped this"

Kristy looked down at the picture and then at Sheppard as fresh tears streamed down here face. She turned away and walked towards a large window, staring at the sky clutching the picture in her hands. "Well, I guess you know then…does my mother…I mean does Teyla know?"

"No. When I saw who was in the picture I immediately put it in my pocket"

"That's good, you already knowing is too much" she said.

"I'm sorry for asking about…your father"

"It's okay. I'm sorry about getting upset. It's just his death is still recent in my mind" she said still staring out the window not noticing another person walking into the room.

"Does Alex know?" asked Sheppard and he heard a gasp from behind him. He turned to see just the person they were talking about.

Alex was standing at the door staring at Kristy and Sheppard. His whole body began to shake in shock as the news of their father started sinking in. Before Kristy could make a step towards him he was gone.

Kristy sighed "I guess he knows now" She turned back to Sheppard, clearly mad "Your security only has to watch four children, how difficult is that?"

"Hey don't yell at me just because your brother has the knack of evading our security measures, just like you" he retorted.

"I don't have time to argue with you" she said and ran out of the room to find her brother. Kristy ran around a corner and stopped in her tracks seeing Alex standing in the middle of the corridor pulling a device out of his jacket pocket. Her eyes grew wide as she recognized it. "Alexander Aiden Sheppard! Don't you dare put that on!" she yelled making sure to use his full name to warn him just how much trouble he's going to be in if he didn't obey.

"I just want to be left alone!" he yelled back sobbing. He placed the device on his chest and it started to glow green and then he vanished.

"Shit" said Kristy pulling a life signs detector out of her pocket, trying to get a lock on her distressed brother.

"What the hell was that?" asked Sheppard rounding the corner to see the boy disappearing into thin air.

"That was the personal shield device. It can do a lot more than you think" she replied. "Dammit! I can't get a lock on him" she sighed in frustration. She then looked at Sheppard just noticing him for the first time "What are you doing here?"

"I thought you could use another pair of eyes while looking for him" he replied.

"Well I don't" she said staring back at the life signs detector.

Sheppard sighed and stared at the wall trying to think. Then he got an idea "When I was coming around the corner I heard him saying that he wanted to be left alone. Is there a place where he likes to go? Like a hideout of some kind?"

Kristy brightened up at Sheppard's suggestion "I think I know where he went, follow me"

Sheppard ran with her to the closest transporter. She touched a spot on the map and after the all too familiar blinding white light she walked out into a deserted corridor. He looked around at their surroundings eyes widening slightly "This place hasn't been explored yet; we don't know if it's structurally sound"

"All the more reason we find him" said Kristy turning to Sheppard and smiled as he looked around nervously "Don't worry I know this entire city like the back of my hand" She lifted up her hand for effect and her brows furrowed when she looked at it "Hey that's new" Then she started to laugh seeing Sheppard's shocked face. "I'm just kidding" and she ran off down the corridors with Sheppard following closely behind.

After awhile of running down the corridors and taking numerous turns, Kristy stopped. She walked towards a door and ran her hand over the sensor praying that there was power in this section. To hers and Sheppard's relief the door opened to a blinding light.

When his eyes adjusted, Sheppard looked around to see one of the most amazing views he's seen so far on Atlantis. He stepped out on a balcony overlooking the ocean to the now setting sun. The orange rays from the sun made the balcony appear to glow with its own warmth. He saw that the balcony led down to a pier, where the boy was currently standing watching the sunset. Sheppard also noticed that there was a small storm in the distance coming towards them rapidly. He looked around for Kristy and saw that she was already halfway to the end of the pier.

Kristy stopped several feet behind her brother "Alex?" she said, but he didn't answer. A cool breeze pulled at her and she wished that she grabbed her jacket. She looked in the distance and saw the storm looming closer and the waves smashing against the pier were getting stronger. Wrapping her arms around herself to stay warm she said "It's pretty cold out here kiddo, why don't we go inside and have some hot chocolate and a nice big turkey sandwich?"

Alex turned around and stiffened, his dark brown eyes glowing with anger as he looked past Kristy "What's he doing here?"

Kristy turned around to see Sheppard walking towards them. Wishing that he would have stayed on the balcony, she turned back to her brother "He's just worried about you, Alex"

"He's not dad and I don't want to see him!" he cried unable to hold back the onslaught of fresh tears.

Kristy went to go to Alex, but Sheppard put his hand on her shoulder, stopping her. He looked at Alex and said "I'm not trying to be your father, but I would like to be your friend"

Kristy glanced at the storm again and saw that it was going to hit the city soon, so the next couple of minutes were critical if she was going to get Alex inside safely. "And maybe we can watch a movie or a football game" she added trying to encourage the boy more.

"You like football?" said Sheppard "If so maybe I can find some popcorn for the game"

Alex smiled a little "Okay" He started walking towards the two adults when he heard a rushing sound. He looked for the source of the sound and saw a large wave coming right for the pier. Alex froze in mid step looking back at Kristy in fear and saw her and Sheppard running towards him.

Kristy reached Alex just as the wave crashed on top of the pier. She wrapped her arms around his tiny frame as they were being dragged across the pier to the raging water below. She saw a hand railing running along the side of the pier where they were rapidly approaching. She spun her body so that her feet were pointed towards it and yelled over the roar of the water "Hold on to me!" and felt his arms wrap around her tighter.

Kristy squeezed her eyes shut as her feet connected with the railing instantly stopping them from going over the edge. She yelled as pain exploded in her left ankle. Unfortunately her plan wasn't good enough and she slowly felt their bodies being dragged over the edge just from the sheer force of the water. Kristy thought about grabbing the railing, but she didn't want to let go of her brother knowing he wouldn't be strong enough to hold on. Instead she wrapped her legs around the railing keeping them firmly in place.

When the water subsided Kristy looked around to try and find major Sheppard, but he was nowhere to be found. She looked down at her life signs detector and saw that Sheppard was several metres away in the water. "Alex! I want you to run inside and stay there!" she ordered and Alex ran as fast as he could to the city. Kristy didn't even see if he was inside and dove into the water.

The water was so cold that it felt like her skin was being pierced with thousands of tiny daggers, making her breath feel like it was being pulled from her lungs. She reached the surface and looked around for Sheppard and couldn't see a thing through the rough waters. She dove back under and saw Sheppard floating several metres away. With all of her strength she swam to him and hauled him to the surface. As she pulled him up on the pier and she heard the now familiar rushing sound. Kristy spun around to see another wave coming right for them. She wrapped her arms around Sheppard and the railing as the wave hit.

When it passed Kristy hauled Sheppard over her shoulders in a fireman's carry and made her way for the city. She made it to the door and Alex had it open gesturing for her to hurry. When he shut the door Kristy placed Sheppard gently on the floor as they heard another wave hit. Alex rushed over to Kristy seeing her bending over Sheppard.

"Is dad okay?" he asked.

Kristy grabbed Sheppard's radio and threw it to Alex. "Call Aunt Elizabeth and tell her to send a med team down here now" she said, intentionally forgetting about the formalities so that her brother understood completely.

Alex nodded and stepped away fumbling with the radio, his hands numb. He heard Dr. Weir over the radio. "Aunt Elizabeth this is Alex. We're in trouble and we need Uncle Carson here now" he rambled.

"Calm down Alex" she said over the radio. "We need to know where you are"

"We're at the end of the east pier" he answered "Please hurry!" He ran back to Kristy and saw that she was trying to resuscitate Sheppard. "What's wrong?"

In between breaths she answered "He's not breathing"

Alex bent down, tears forming in his eyes. "No! He can't leave again!" He grabbed Sheppard's cold limp hand and held it close to his chest. "Dad! You can't leave, please come back!" he yelled trying to get some response from Sheppard. He looked at Kristy and saw tears glistening in her eyes as well. Just when all hope left Alex, he heard a choking sound. He looked back at Sheppard and saw him starting to cough up water, a lot of water.

Kristy rolled him to his side rubbing his back and giving him words of encouragement. After he expelled all of the water from his lungs, she propped him up against her chest to get him partially off the cold floor and encouraged him to take even breaths. At first his breathing was ragged as he struggled, but soon it started to even out.

Several minutes later, Beckett and a med team entered to see Sheppard lying against Kristy's chest holding Alex's hands. Beckett rushed over and saw that Sheppard and Kristy were pale and their lips were blue and noticed Alex shivering. He bent down to Sheppard and saw a large gash by his temple. "What happened?"

"We were hit by a large wave on the pier. I didn't see what happened to the major, but I found him unconscious in the water" Kristy replied.

Beckett nodded to Kristy and looked down at Sheppard. "Major, can you hear me?" he asked and was answered with a quiet moan. Beckett issued some orders and had his team load Sheppard on a stretcher wearing a neck brace, rushing off. They wrapped Alex up in an emergency blanket and he was carried away.

Kristy went to get up and fell as her ankle gave out on her, now noticing how painful it was. She looked down and saw that her ankle was double its size and couldn't believe that she carried Sheppard to the city. Beckett was by her side putting a blanket on her shoulders. "Thanks" she said and wrapped the blanket around her tighter as he helped her up.

"You're welcome. Now let's get you to the infirmary" he said and they both slowly made their way to the infirmary.

(TBC)

Poor Kristy, she just doesn't seem to get any breaks. Now, what's going to happen now that Sheppard knows about her and Alex? You'll just have to wait and see.