So How Did I Meet Your Mom Again?3
Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate: Atlantis or any of its characters or story lines. No infringement is intended upon anyone or any subsidiary connected to Stargate: Atlantis or its parent series, Stargate: SG-1 or Stargate The Movie. I'm poor, you'll get nothing out of me!
Summary: When the team discovers McKay's future daughter living with their trading partners, the search is on for the mother because his daughter will have to be conceived in a year or cease to exist. No pressure, right?
Rating: PG for language.
Warnings: Possibly some adult situations or at least ideas.
Category: Friendship/Romance/Humor
Author note: Okay, so Taylor is going to back off for a while as a character, but I will be developing her (as well as giving her a first name and some friends) on a tangent line with the main story and eventually the two storylines will be united again.
Sheppard took a deep breath and surveyed the land surrounding the Stargate. Soft fields of what looked like wheat swayed with the wind. There were a few trees breaking up the monotony and he could see some children playing in the distance with a woman looking on from the shade of a tree. He heard his companions step out of the Stargate behind him. Without looking at them, he started off towards the woman and children, trying to look as unthreatening as possible.
He hadn't gotten far when the woman spotted them and immediately gathered the children and sent them quietly scampering off towards what he could only assume was a town or village. The woman, who he could now see was in her early 20's watched them approach with no fear or excitement on her face. Her body stance told Sheppard she was wary, but not scared; a good combination when looking for allies.
Sheppard was now close enough to her to see that she was quite pretty with dark blue eyes the color of denim and a sweet face. She was lightly tanned and had smooth, unmarked skin and silky, straight light brown hair down to her shoulders and framing her face. She was wearing a plain brown shirt, and an off-white pleated skirt with sandals. Sheppard could also see she held some sort of an energy weapon in her hand pointed directly at him in a firm grip. She too was trying to look unthreatening. Fortunately, she pulled it off quite easily since she was small enough for her age to be called dainty. Not that Sheppard would have. Her eyes had seen much more than someone of her years should have as well as a keen intelligence.
"May I ask what your business is here on Cainell?" She asked politely, yet authoritatively.
Sheppard stopped about 7 feet away and smiled at her while thanking the gods that Rodney was quiet for once in his life, although that probably had more to do with Ronan. He had his hand on Rodney's shoulder and had stopped him about 15 feet behind Sheppard while only Teyla and Sheppard proceeded towards the girl.
"We're looking for trading partners, perhaps even allies with your people. Can you take us to your town?" Sheppard asked just as nicely.
She nodded slowly and gestured for him to precede her.
John nodded to Ronan and the four of them started walking in single file in the direction the girl had indicated, John falling last in line to try to talk to the girl.
"My name is Col. John Sheppard and theses are my companions-" he started only to be interrupted.
"I do not need to know your names. You can introduce yourselves to the high council when we arrive." She said curtly.
Rodney turned to look at her and then glanced back at John saying sarcastically, "I hope they're all this friendly."
The girl glared at him fiercely enough that he turned around without another word.
John decided to try again. "Can we at least know your name or the name of your people so we don't embarrass ourselves once we arrive?" He put a pleading tone in his voice.
After a pause, she answered, "My name is Isabel and my people are the Alatheas. This planet is Cainell. We don't often get visitors from the Stargate."
"I see," said John with a gentle smile, trying to get her to open up. "We're peaceful explorers-"
Once again she interrupted him, "Then why do you carry guns and wear armor? Why have a bodyguard?" Isabel asked, gesturing towards Ronan. "No, you are soldiers. Except for that one." She finished, glaring at Rodney who had turned at that comment with a scathing one of his own until Ronan grabbed his head in a head lock and marched him back up to the front of the line where he couldn't be as well heard.
"So…" Sheppard said, "what are your people like?"
"You'll see soon enough. We're almost there." Conversation was definitely not welcome. They continued another 5 minutes until reaching the town, which resembled something from the 1850's on Earth. The houses were made of wood and the street was cobbled from small stones. They could see horse-like animals pulling carts and people selling goods from stores on either side of the road. While the town looked fairly quaint and not very technological, the weapons the people carried, and a device they saw a woman heal a child's bleeding knees, were. The town obviously had electricity or some other sort of power as there were also quiet motorized carts carrying goods, although the horse-like animals far outnumbered them.
Isabel took them to a large white painted building that said 'High Council' with an alien symbol across the top. She walked them in and asked to speak to the council. After a brief conversation, the woman receptionist told them to follow her, while Isabel walked back out of the building.
The receptionist opened the doors and they were lead into a huge chamber with small tables seating 3-4 scattered through it facing the very center of the room where a tall, dignified looking man with silver hair sat. The men and women seated at the tables looked to be important people and John estimated that there were about 120 or so people sitting there watching his team walk in.
The large man in the center stood and invited them closer, shaking John's hand with a nod. Sheppard had wondered why they had let his team in to speak to their leader when they were still armed, but upon looking up he saw no less than 50 armed guards with their weapons trained on his team.
"Hello, I'm Col. John Sheppard and these are my companions, Teyla Emmagan, Ronan Dex and Dr. Rodney McKay. We're peaceful explorers looking to trade and make allies against the Wraith."
"McKay?" The leader questioned. McKay put out his hand thinking the man wanted to shake it. He just stared at it until McKay withdrew it self-consciously.
"Yes?" He asked instead.
Again the leader gave them a hard look. "You are from Atlantis." It was not a question.
John got suspicious as he asked, "How did you know that?"
The man nearly pointed to the patch on John's shoulder. Someone coughed behind them and the large man seemed to snap out of it. "Forgive my rudeness. My name is Canace Terrogin and I am the leader of the Alatheas. My secretary tells me you came through the stone ring in the field?"
John nodded, but could see McKay give a start and knew the man was about to blurt something out. Fortunately, so did Ronan and Teyla as he stepped on McKay's foot and she quietly whispered something in his ear. Rodney glared for all he was worth, but shut up. They desperately needed allies and if those weapons were anything to judge these people's technology by, then he definitely wanted to be friends with these people.
"Please, be seated. We will talk of trade and you will stay here the night. Is that agreeable?" Canace asked.
John nodded and had a seat.
It was many hours later when they came to a standstill. Canace seemed to realize his guests were tired of talk and decided to call it a day.
"Perhaps we should resume this tomorrow when you are rested?" He suggested.
"Of course." Said John generously.
"Can we get something to eat?" McKay asked like a little kid. "Cause I'm about to go into a hypoglycemic shock if I don't eat soon."
Canace's eyebrows shot straight up at the unfamiliar terminology and John quickly interjected to smooth over the situation.
"Excuse my friend. It has just been a long day." John said with a smile.
Canace nodded back and told them, "We are preparing an extravagant dinner in your honor to celebrate us becoming allies. It, however, will not be ready until early this evening if you would like to be shown to your rooms?"
John smiled, "That sounds great."
McKay hardly waited until the door was shut before blurting out, "He called it a stone ring, but the girl we saw called it a Stargate. I didn't realize it until he said it, but how would she know to call it a Stargate? Everyone else in this galaxy calls it the Chappa'ai or else just describes it, and he used a different term and have you noticed their noses? Everyone's nose here is broader than normal and goes to a smaller point, but Isabel's didn't! And all these people are big by our standards except her. I don't think she's one of these people!"
"McKay!" John shouted.
"What?"
"Take a breath! I noticed the same stuff. AND Canace seemed surprised at your last name. Maybe they've heard of us? You know, through other trading partners? Maybe she is also trading with them and is hanging around the village until the transaction is complete."
McKay looked thoughtful. "You could be right."
"Anyways, I was planning on asking him at the dinner tonight, when things are more relaxed and not so many people are listening. Alright?"
All night, Sheppard had tried to get Canace by himself, but it seemed that they were the new celebrities and everyone wanted to meet the strangers. He decided that maybe the direct approach would be best.
Making a show of taking off his weapons and vest, but not radio, and giving them to Ronan he turned to ask Canace if he would take a walk with him.
"Of course." He said immediately, but John couldn't help but notice that 4 guards followed no more than 10 feet behind.
John was just about to steer the conversation towards the girl and any other trading partners the Alatheas had, when Canace surprised him, by bringing it up first.
"You wish to know about Isabel?" He asked.
John nodded and he continued, "She is my daughter."
"She's very beautiful."
"Yes," Canace nodded, "also very smart and brave. Suitors come from neighboring towns to seek her hand, but always she has refused. I fear what I tell you next might cause my daughter to leave me, but I feel I must as an honorable man. She is not my biological daughter."
"Oh?" John asked carefully, not sure where this was going.
"No. She came through the gate one day about 19 years ago, before I was leader of my people. She was no older than 3 and hysterical, insisting monsters had come to her world and slaughtered her people until only her badly injured father remained. He sent her through the stone ring alone. I can only assume he stayed behind to fight or was too weak to make it and did not want his daughter to see him die. She refused to speak for many weeks after that, holding out the hope that her father would come back for her. She would sit by the gate from dawn 'til dusk for months. She would draw that symbol," he said as he pointed to John's Atlantis patch, "in the dirt but never said anything about it when asked, except 'Atlantis.' He said sadly.
Sheppard's mind was reeling. There had been no one in Atlantis 19 years ago, so where had she come from?
"Then when I heard your companion's name, I had hoped he was an older brother that had finally come looking for his sister. It would give her some family besides myself, but then I realized that even if she didn't realize it was him when he came through the gate, he would have known it was her, being older when she would have disappeared. I still held out the hope that maybe they simply did not recognize each other, until I asked your McKay about siblings at dinner and found out about him being an only child."
"What does his name have to do with it?" John asked curious.
"Because when Isabel came through the gate, she was able to give me a few small pieces of information. She gave me her birthday and her name: Isabel McKay."
Author's Note: Okay, how am I doing so far? Did I leave out any details or did anything not make sense?