Tempe: This one's for you. It's people like you that make a writer want to stick with a story to the end. And as for the whole killing off thing I think it depends on the author. For meI think it adds the potential for angst, which it definitely will in this story
Waking slowly John stretched, tightening his hold on Elizabeth as he kissed her bare shoulder. Sighing contently Elizabeth snuggled closer to John softly kissing his chin then rested her head against his chest.
"We should be getting up." Elizabeth spoke up having caught a glance of the clock on John's bedside table.
John groaned, reluctant to let her go. "Take a sick day, leave Rodney in charge for the day."
"And risk having a mutiny on my hands, I think not." Elizabeth began to pull out of his arms. Growling in frustration John reluctantly let her go, burrowing deeper under the covers as she disappeared into the bathroom.
Moments later Elizabeth reappeared looking ready for the day. Smiling she bent over to kiss John's temple while attempting to pull the covers off of him. "Come on sleepy time to get up."
"But I don't wanna go to school today, mommy." John teased as he rolled over pulling Elizabeth down next to him. Draping an arm over her waist he burrowed his head into her side.
"Elizabeth."
Rodney's voice coming from Elizabeth's radio caused John to groan again. "Don't answer."
She smiled running her fingers through his hair. "Go ahead Rodney."
"We just picked up a strange energy reading emanating in the gate room."
"Do you know what's causing it?" Elizabeth's fingers paused, while John lifted his head paying attention.
"Not yet."
"I'll be right there." She started to pull out of John's arm.
"You might want to bring John with you just in case."
Before Elizabeth could respond to Rodney's last statement he disconnected his radio. "I think he suspects something's going on between us." She looked down at John.
"Him along with everyone else in this city." He smirked when she raised a questioning eyebrow. "Let's just say certain people aren't as discrete about their betting as they'd like to think. Maybe we should officially let people know and put them put of their misery. Besides…" He paused to caringly kiss the slight bulge that was beginning to show on her stomach if you knew to look for it. "The cat's gonna be out of the bag soon any way."
"Later, right now we have work to do." Elizabeth stood up holding her hand out to John. Sighing John forced himself out of bed. Five minutes later he was ready to go and the two headed for the control room.
Working at one of the consoles in the control room trying to figure out what the strange energy reading was Rodney was surprised when out of nowhere something that looked like the event horizon of a Stargate appeared in the gate room. Moving to the balcony over looking the gate room he watched as two bodies appeared.
One moment Troy had been in one of the labs then the next thing he knew he was in the Atlantis gate room. Not having expected to suddenly be in Atlantis suspended several feet above the floor Troy didn't have time to brace himself for when his body realized that no it couldn't defy gravity and slammed into the ground.
Landing hard on his right side he lost hold of his P-90, it sliding across the floor. Seeing the weapon Jamas quickly attempted to scramble to his feet as he dived for it. Troy also made a dive for the weapon. Struggling with Jamas, Troy felt his head slammed into the hard floor, blackness threatening the edges of his vision.
Taking advantage of the moment Jamas reached out frantically with his right hand, and felt cool metal under his fingers. Shaking off the nausea swirling in his gut, Troy saw his P-90 in Jamas' hands and just barely had enough time to scramble to his feet and take refuge behind one of the large shipping crates in the room as a bullet whizzed past. Thank God they'd arrived at a time right after the Daedalus had made a supply run.
Quickly pulling out his 9mm Troy poked out from around the crate and returned his own shot. Jamas hurriedly took cover behind another shipping crate. Ignoring the guards and surprised scientists in the room Troy carefully moved from the crate he'd been hiding behind to another one hoping to get a clean shot at Jamas.
"Give it up Sheppard!" Jamas called out making his own way through the shipping crates.
"What would be the fun in that?" Troy called back as he registered in the back of his mind the doors to the gate room opening and John and Elizabeth entering the room.
"Don't you understand? This is the only way to stop the Wraith from reaching Earth. As long as this city exists Earth is in danger."
Suddenly it hit Troy like a ton of bricks just what exactly Jamas was planning to do. "I'm not going to let you destroy this city and kill hundreds of innocent people Jamas."
Noticing Elizabeth in the gate room Jamas knew what he had to do. "You're a good guy Sheppard and I wish it didn't have to be this way, but I don't have a choice." Breaking from his cover Jamas took aim at Elizabeth.
Catching sight of Jamas breaking cover and aiming for Elizabeth, Troy got a knot in his gut. If he was right about what time period Jamas had brought them to, Elizabeth – his mother – would be about three or four months pregnant with him, meaning that if Jamas killed her Troy would cease to exist.
Immediately he lunged from his own cover pointing and firing his 9mm at Jamas as he pushed Elizabeth out of the way, once again slamming into the ground this time on his left side. Troy held still for a moment never taking his eyes or gun off of Jamas who was now sprawled out on the ground. Satisfied that the man wasn't getting immediately up Troy pushed himself up and cautiously approached Jamas.
Looking down at the man Troy could tell he was dead. Sighing he closed his eyes briefly as he kneeled next Jamas, before he started searching him for the remote device that would allow Troy to return back to his own time. Finally finding it he cursed as he held it up seeing the nice little bullet sized hole through the middle of it.
As they'd entered the gate room both Elizabeth and John had been surprised to find two strangers in the middle of a stand off, before either of them had had a chance to find out what was going on one of the men probably in his late forties with graying hair left his cover and took aim at Elizabeth.
Before John could even think to react the other man looking to be in his mid-twenties with black hair was pushing her out of the way firing at the other man. While the younger man cautiously moved towards the older man John instantly dropped next to Elizabeth making sure she was ok.
"I'm fine." Elizabeth pushed herself up taking the hand John offered her.
Nodding he pulled his 9mm out of the holster on his leg turning his attention to the stranger. By now the guards in the room had regained their senses and had their weapons trained on the intruder.
"Put your gun down and stand up slowly." John ordered. The man may have just saved Elizabeth from being shot, but that didn't mean John trusted him.
Hearing the sound of his father's voice Troy tensed as he cautiously raised his arms up wincing at the twinge of pain in his shoulders. As he started to come down from his adrenalin rush, Troy took note of the increased pounding in his head, most likely a concussion from when Jamas had bounced his head off the floor added to the hangover he was still feeling.
Slowly standing up he suddenly felt light headed and a bit dizzy, he wobbled on his feet for a second before falling back down to his knees. Yeah definitely a concussion.
"Note to self: standing is bad." Troy mumbled to himself. Closing his eyes briefly he fought down the nausea before opening them again.
"Who are you?" John demanded, only briefly registering in the back of his mind Elizabeth requesting Carson's presence in the gate room.
"I probably shouldn't tell you that." Troy answered as he watched Elizabeth move to stand next to John while Rodney started down the stairs from the control room.
"Why not?" Elizabeth questioned this time.
Troy paused as Carson entered the gate room followed by Ronon and Teyla who had come to see what all the fuss was about. "Because it could change everything. I came here to stop him," He indicated Jamas. "Not change the future..." He trailed off a moment as he looked at the Ancient remote still in his hand. "But since my only ticket home for the moment is out of commission I'm gonna be stuck here for a while and I guess you people need something besides 'hey you' to call me. So call me Troy."
"Alright Troy," Elizabeth nodded her head slightly. "I'm Dr.--"
"I know who you are..." Troy cut her off. Uncertainty and hesitation flashed in his eyes as if he wasn't quite sure how to address her. "Dr. Weir. I know who all of you are."
"Carson, Rodney." Troy briefly turned his attention to the two men, his eyes filled with caring and affection.
"Teyla, Ronon." He nodded his head slightly, admiration and respect shinning in his eyes. "It's good to see you guys again." He hadn't seen them since just before the Wraith had attacked the city, the two had been off world when the city had been unexpectedly attacked and Troy had never found out what had happened to them.
Last Troy turned his attention to John, "Colonel Sheppard." Troy's tone was clipped and professional. It was hard to miss the flash of anger that passed through Troy's eyes.
"Have we met you before?" Looking at the young man Elizabeth had the strangest feeling that she knew him some how, had some kind of connection with him.
"No, not yet."
"Wait," Rodney spoke up snapping his fingers as something suddenly clicked in his mind. "That man he called you Sheppard earlier..."
"Damn, I was hoping nobody caught that." Troy's glance shifted to the ground briefly. "You're right Rodney he did, that's because my last name is Sheppard."
"Sheppard as in...?"
"As in Colonel Sheppard, yes. He and Dr. Weir are my parents...or more accurately will be in about another six months."
"Wait six…then that means…that you're…" Rodney pointed at Elizabeth, then at John. "And that you…"
"See I told you the cat would be out of the bag soon." John leaned over to whisper to Elizabeth as Rodney tried to form a complete sentence.
Elizabeth remained silent for the moment studying Troy's features. He definitely had John's hair and jaw line. John also studied his "son's" features, it was easy to see that the young man was Elizabeth's child; the nose, the eyes, the ears, and the mouth they definitely all came from Elizabeth.
"Congratulations Dr. Weir, Colonel Sheppard." Teyla spoke up before Rodney got over his shock and went off on one of his rants - it was one thing to suspect a relationship between the two leaders, but another to actually know. Ronon just nodded a hint of a knowing smirk on his face. Everyone else in the room - with the exception of Carson who already knew all this, he was the one to tell the woman she was pregnant after all - was too stunned to say anything.
"So why did this guy..." John deciding it was time to get back to more important topics pointed at Jamas.
"Jamas, Dr. Brad Jamas." Troy supplied.
"Right. Why did he come here?"
"To try and change the future by destroying Atlantis."
"Why would he want to do that?" Rodney had regained his composure.
"Can't tell you that."
"What? Why not?"
"Because I didn't come here to change history..." Troy trailed off a moment as a small wave of dizziness washed over him reminding him of the pounding in his head.
Seeing Troy go slightly pale as he wavered a bit Carson quickly stepped forward, kneeling next to Troy to give him a once over. "How's the head doin' Lad?"
"Feels like it's gonna explode, but whether that's from the concussion or the hangover from Radek's latest batch of hooch I couldn't tell ya." Troy answered as he forced himself up into a standing position, ignoring Carson's attempt to keep him down.
Carson frowned slightly turning his attention to Elizabeth and John, "I think more questions can wait, right now I want him in the infirmary."
"Relax I'm fine Carson. It'll take more than a hangover and having my head bounced off the floor to keep me down."
"Well if there was any doubt before." Carson softly muttered as he started steering Troy out of the room. "I don't care how you think you're doin' you're going down to the infirmary and that's finale." He spoke louder that time.
Half an hour later John and Elizabeth sat in Carson's office waiting for the doctor to finish examining Troy. Looking through the window to where Troy was sitting on one of the infirmary beds Elizabeth sat absently running a hand over her stomach. She was still trying to wrap her mind around the fact that the young man sitting out there was the child currently growing inside of her.
"Here," John handed Elizabeth a cup of tea as he sat down next to here. "It's weird isn't it."
"Mmm..." Elizabeth took the cup and breathed in the sweet aroma. "It's hard to believe that the child growing inside me will one day grow up to be that man out there."
The two fell into a comfortable silence before Elizabeth spoke up again. "I'm worried about him." She placed the cup down, taking one of John's hands and holding it against her stomach.
"How so?" John used his free hand to rub her back.
"The way he acted towards us. With the others he seemed so warm and open, you could see the care and affection shining in his eyes. But with us it was different, he was hesitant and unsure when talking to me and with you he was distant and professional almost coldly so. And you can't tell me you didn't notice the anger that flashed through his eyes when he looked at you."
"Yeah I noticed." John whispered as Elizabeth rested her head on his shoulder. He understood her concerns, they were the same ones that had been running around in his head.
Before anything more could be said Carson finally entered the office. "You'll be pleased to know that he'll live. Aside from a minor concussion and being slightly undernourished and dehydrated he's fine. Nothing some rest and a good meal or two can't take care of. I've started him on an IV for the dehydration just to be safe."
"Can we see him?" Elizabeth lifted her head from John's shoulder.
"I'm afraid that will have to wait 'til tomorrow. He's sleeping right now and I don't want to disturb him. I slipped him a slight sedative to make sure he actually slept." Carson wasn't an idiot - Troy was a Sheppard after all - there was no way he was taking the chance that the man was just like his dad when it came to staying in the infirmary.
Knowing that Carson wasn't likely to let them stay in the infirmary until Troy woke up John took Elizabeth's hand and led her out of the infirmary hoping to find something to take their minds off of the young man sleeping in one of the infirmary beds.