A Glimpse into the Future

By Major Dork

Summary: He went to bed in his own room alone, he woke up with a wife, three kids… and a screwed up future.

A/N: Hey guys! Here with another chapter! Sorry bout the cliffhanger last chapter, but what can I say… I couldn't help myself! Angst and cliffhangers… :sighs: Anyway, thanks for the reviews, but don't forget to keep em coming! I gotta know somebody's reading after all! ;)


Part Five "It's Never Easy"

By the time John woke up, he knew something was different. There were lights overhead and a blanket over him. It was then that he noticed he was no longer in uniform, instead a hospital gown covered him… barely, thankfully the blankets covered what the gown could not. Suddenly he heard someone groan. He was surprised to find Elizabeth sleeping next to his bed, her head lying to the side in her chair. She'd been watching over him… that had to mean something. Suddenly she groaned once more, her eyes slowly opening, without fail, Sheppard closed his eyes, calming his breathing.

"Ah, Elizabeth, you're awake."

"How is he?" she asked softly, obviously trying not to wake John.

"He'll be fine for a while, I don't expect another seizer for hours more than likely, but we'll have to keep an eye on him, see what happens."

He heard Elizabeth breath out. "Good."

"You know, Elizabeth, I'm surprised you decided to stay… considering…." Carson trailed off.

"Yeah well, he's still a member of this expedition. My own feelings on the matter mean nothing compared to the damage his death would do."

"To you or to the timeline?" Carson asked softly.

There was a long pause before she answered. "Not now, Carson."

"Aye, how did I know you'd say that?" he asked, before letting out an uncomfortable chuckle. "I'll leave you to watch over him for a little while longer, then you should go get some rest in a proper bed. I already have enough to worry about with Sheppard."

"Thank you Doctor."

John peaked out at them, wanting to see what was going on. Carson took a few steps away from them before turning around. "And Elizabeth…."

"Yes Carson?"

Carson hesitated for a second. "It's okay to admit that you still love him. Simon or no Simon… we all know there's still something there."

"Who's we?" Elizabeth asked, her voice cold.

"Everyone with eyes," he told her before turning back around and leaving.

Elizabeth's eyes widened in surprise at Carson's statement, not prepared for what it meant. John watched her as she lowered her head, rubbing her face. "You should go… you look like you could use a good night's sleep," John finally said, his voice soft.

"John!" Elizabeth shouted, startled. "You're up!"

John moved to sit up, annoyed at all the different monitors and the like, all Carson's doing. "Remind me never to stay at this hotel again," he muttered, trying to ease the tension in the room. "The beds are lumpy, and I'm not too fond of being dressed without knowing what's going on… I swear the man responsible will NOT be getting a tip."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, annoyed. "You just have a seizer and you pick now to joke around?"

"Yeah well… it's what I'm good at."

"John, Doctor Carson and Rodney believe you may be dying! The seizers are going to get worse… you could die! Apparently this body is holding both yours and my John's consciousness. When that happened to Rodney he very nearly died. If you don't figure out something soon, the ramifications could be catastrophic!"

John ran a hand through his hair, some things he'd already figured out. He'd known that it was likely the body he was now it was holding two consciousnesses, one being surprised… either that or the future John had taken his place in the past. They were weird and confusing ideas, but at least one seemed to getting him somewhere. "There's nothing I CAN do Elizabeth."

"You can figure out why the hell you're here."

"I already know why I'm here Elizabeth."

"Oh please! Not this again!" she muttered, angrily, turning around so she wouldn't have to face him.

"You know, I've have been RACKING my brain for a while now as to how to convince you that the John you were married to would never intentionally hurt you, but do you even care either way? Because it seems to me that you gave up WAY too easily."

"It's not like you did anything to keep us together either John!" Elizabeth fought, turning back around.

"Elizabeth! Your opinion out of everyone on this damn city means the most! I CARE about what you think of me! I CARE about how you see me! I mean Jesus! We've only known each other for a few years in my timeline and you already mean more to me than anyone I've ever known! You aren't even my type! Yet here we are, we were married, we had children… we had a LIFE together! The moment you let go… the moment you started refusing to listen… what was I gonna do Elizabeth! How can I prove to you that you matter to me in every damn timeline whether past of future… YOU MATTER TO ME, Elizabeth… how do I get you to see that!"

"I matter to you! I matter to you! I catch you sucking face with Chaya and you're going to tell me I MATTER to you! If I really MATTERED to you we would be here!"

"And if I ever MATTERED to you, YOU'D SHUT THE HELL UP AND JUST LISTEN TO ME!"

"I'm tired of listening, John! I'm tired of hearing that it wasn't what it looked like, that you didn't kiss her back! I'm tired of hearing lies and I'm TIRED of YOU!"

"Then LEAVE!" John shouted, their faces mere inches away, his face red with anger. "You're tired of me, FINE! GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME, cause I don't care anymore! Consequences or no consequences I'm not gonna spend time and energy trying to convince you of what you know is true! You want to avoid catastrophe… GET SOMEONE ELSE TO SAVE THE GOD DAMN UNIVERSE FOR ALL I CARE! I'M DONE!" he yelled, pulling the sensors off his body. Finally he carefully pulled the needle out of his vein, putting pressure on the cut so the bleeding would stop. He then grabbed his clothes, covered up what the gown didn't and left.

"WHAT IN GOD'S NAME-" Carson froze as he saw the lost look on Elizabeth's face, John nowhere in sight. When sensors had read John going flat line he'd feared the worse, but he knew now that John had left. "Elizabeth? What happened? Where's Colonel Sheppard?"

Elizabeth looked over at him, tears in her eyes, before she turned around and left, hiding the tears coming down her face as she went.


"Almost FIFTEEN YEARS! FIFTEEN! I haven't even been able to keep a girlfriend for two years! How the heck did I go fifteen years with that… that… WOMAN!" John shouted, still angry from the fight before.

Rodney McKay sat beside him, their legs sticking out of the Atlantis balcony, swaying with the breeze as they watched the waves hit the city. He'd been trying to calm the man down for a half an hour now. "You broke her heart, Sheppard… that's not exactly an easy thing to fix."

"I had NO interest in Chaya! We were JUST friends!"

Rodney frowned, running a hand through his hair.

Sheppard noticed the look and frowned. "Chaya told me it was just a misunderstanding… she had feelings for me… and she kissed me… that's all it was… right?"

McKay sighed, looking out at the ocean. "Chaya wasn't the only one who knew the situation… Carson knew some of it, but chose not to push things further… I… knew the whole story."

"Why didn't you tell me!" John asked, surprised by what the scientist was telling him.

"Because I wanted Elizabeth to TALK to you and sort this whole thing out!" Rodney shook his head, looking over at John. "In your timeline we weren't all that close… friends, but more than not we were usually getting on each other's nerves. When I came to Atlantis I was selfish, prideful, and cocky. I thought I was the greatest thing since the world discovered fire! But you… you were the complete opposite. You were always so brave, daring, selfless, and so sure of yourself… of what was right and wrong. In many ways, this life changed me… Atlantis, you, my family. Before my wife died… she showed me a world I'd never even known existed. Suddenly black and white wasn't as inferior as color… she flipped my world upside down. When Ian was born… my priorities changed. Jason and Ian were best friends at birth," Rodney told John, laughing at the last part. "It took me a while, but I began to see you in a new light… and in time you began to see ME in a new light. We became good friends."

John smiled at the man beside him. "Is that why you came looking for me after my fight with Elizabeth?"

"Hey! I was married myself once… their not exactly easy to deal with… probably because the same can be said for ourselves."

John nodded, his smile fading. "Rodney… am I missing something? I have to be missing SOMETHING! How the hell did we go from happily married to not even being able to say a FEW kind words to each other?"

Rodney sighed once more, looking away. "You were having problems. Elizabeth believed you working that closely with Chaya wasn't going to work out. You'd slept together once, for god's sake! She didn't like it, and who could blame her? The constant fighting between you two was taking it's toll."

FLASHBACK

"She barely even KNOWS Chaya! Elizabeth doesn't even trust the woman! You'd think after all Chaya's done that Elizabeth would at least TRY to trust Chaya, but she's just being so damn stubborn!" John yelled, frustrated. Rodney watched as John hit the bag before him, working out his anger.

Rodney sighed, tired from his own work out. "You and Chaya DID sleep together, John."

"I have NO interest in Chaya, Rodney! That was over a long time ago!"

"Really? Was it? Didn't seem so when you were in there flirting with the woman RIGHT IN FRONT OF ELIZABETH."

John paused, turning to look at Rodney, glaring. "I WAS NOT flirting! I was simply joking around with her… as friends do."

"You can't deny that you're attracted to her, Sheppard! I know you better than that. Kirk may have finally settled down, but he's still a man! Chaya isn't exactly Miss Ugly Duckling."

"I see her as a friend, McKay! I'm married… I have kids."

"And if you didn't? John, I know you're attracted to the woman, Elizabeth knows it to!"

"Okay! Okay! I admit it! Chaya is attractive…" Sheppard finally said, but frowned as he noticed Rodney's raised eyebrow. "Okay, so she's one of the hottest woman I've ever seen… and when we'd been together that first year… I DID enjoy her company." At McKay's continued silence, John sighed. "Okay… so it helped that she was great in the sack to."

"Now we're getting somewhere!"

John groaned. "You know, I just wish Elizabeth didn't make things so damn difficult! At least when I was with Chaya things were simple!"

"I'll admit… Elizabeth is a complicated one."

Sheppard walked over to Rodney sitting next to his friend. "Before I left… after she defended her people… we shared something. It's like nothing I'd ever felt before… something deeper than words. It was like we were one… like she was a part of me and I was a part of her. I've never shared so much of myself with any other woman… not even Elizabeth."

Doctor McKay took another gulp of his water before setting it down. "Do you love Chaya?"

"I don't know… I don't know anything anymore. What Chaya and I shared was special, but I love my wife! Elizabeth is my world, but… I just… what happened between me and Chaya… I can't forget the past, Rodney; I can't just forget what we shared."

"No one is asking you to."

"Rodney, what if what I'm feeling really is love? What if I do still have feelings for Chaya? Where does that put me and Elizabeth?"

McKay frowned, grabbing John's shoulder. "You made a vow to Elizabeth, John. You promised to be with her till death, to love her, take care of her till the end of time. You can't just take that back."

"People take it back all the time, McKay."

Rodney sighed, standing up. "You once told me that your loyalties did and always would lie with Elizabeth, the woman who gave you three amazing kids, the woman who's stuck with you through your worst and your best times! Chaya is your past… Elizabeth is and always will be your future. You don't need to be a scientist to know Doctor Elizabeth Sheppard is the best thing that ever happened to you. Don't give that up, Sheppard. We all have doubts at one time or another, but don't let those doubts cloud your judgment… or you really will be the idiot I thought you were when we first met!" McKay told him before leaving the gym. "And for god's sake bring more water next time you want to train with me!" he shouted from the other side.

END FLASHBACK

"Two days after out talk… Chaya kissed you. When I found out… at first I thought you really were an idiot… but you assured me that it hadn't been your choice, that she'd just sort of caught you off guard."

The words, his words shook him to the core, as he realized the doubts he'd had. How could he ever have thought all that? How could he have ever doubted? Sure, he'd had something special with Chaya, but that man who shared those things with her was no longer the man who'd married and had kids. The two were different, of that John was sure. It hadn't even taken him a year before he'd begun to change, his priorities warping into something else entirely, but there was one thing he still didn't get. "What does our talk have to do with anything? That still doesn't explain why Elizabeth refuses to listen to me."

Rodney hesitated, getting up slowly. "If you want to know the answer to that one… you have to talk to Elizabeth."

"Oh yeah," John agreed sarcastically. "That'll work! Cause we both know how easy it is to talk to her right now."

McKay gave him a small smile, helping John up from the balcony floor. "Do you know what the first thing you told me when I had my first fight with Katie Brown?"

Sheppard rolled his eyes. "What?"

"You said and I quote, 'dear god McKay, stop whining and just TALK to her!' Let's just say, I warned you that your answer would come back to bite you in the ass one day," Rodney teased.

Sheppard glared at the man before him. "Yeah well, I guess I wasn't expecting for it to bite me in the ass before I even said the damn thing."

McKay just gave him a small grin before walking away. "Have fun."

"When I fix this thing, remind me to kick your ass!" he shouted at McKay as the scientist left. He didn't like that idea, but he knew Rodney was right. He needed to figure this thing out, and that could only happen if he got Elizabeth to REALLY communicate with him. He knew what that meant. It was time to take things to the next level. If he was going to get her to TALK to him, he knew he'd needed to grab her attention. John smiled, as an idea formed in his mind. If this didn't work, nothing would. It was now or never, time to let it all hang out. "I am NEVER touching anything unknown to me again," he muttered, shaking his head. "I touch one piece of technology and now I'm trying to keep the timeline from getting screwed up. It just can't EVER be easy can it?" he asked himself, walking back inside. Well at least he had a plan.

To Be Continued…

A/N: Was that technically a cliffhanger:D Well, the next chapter will be coming soon… but until then… please review! Pretty please:puppy dog eyes: