Sorry for the delay, but real life and other story ideas got in the way.

Chapter 6: Escape from the infirmary.

For the next three days, John battled a raging fever and a deep hacking cough, which eventually turned into pneumonia. He was barely lucid for most of that time, but the times he was aware, he remembered that Teyla, Torren or one of his team were sitting beside his bed and they all had the privilege of seeing him vomit at least once. Sometimes in the moments when he was most aware, he could hear Torren and Rodney discussing a mission, but although he was semi-lucid, he had no idea what mission they were talking about – not that he cared about anything in those three days. The biggest thing that his muddled brain had tried to come to terms with was why was an adult version of his son sitting with him.

On the fourth day, his fever broke and although he felt as if a puddle jumper had hit him, he began to feel a little better. He remembered awakening from a deep restful sleep to find that Teyla was fast asleep in a chair next to his bed and as always it was the cutest thing that he had ever seen.

That was twenty-four hours ago and now he was climbing the walls with boredom. He had a mission that he needed to go on and as usual Carson and Jennifer were being cautious about releasing him from the infirmary – they were certainly against him going on a mission right now. Teyla had been to visit him this morning and was now visiting Torren – baby Torren – on New Athos, grown-up Torren and Dave were spending most of their time with Rodney in his lab and Ronon had decided to go to New Athos and join the hunting parties for a few days, leaving him alone and bored out of his brain.

Although he still had a cough, it was minimal, and he didn't see why a little cough would affect his ability to go on the mission to Arastica. His leg was mostly healed thanks to Atlantis, but it was still a little stiff and he had fresh scars on it.

The first thing he wanted to do when he was released from the infirmary was to go to the control chair and see if Atlantis still detected a virus in his body – although he suspected that it was Arastica's attempts at communicating with him that had caused Atlantis' distress.

Before he had a chance to contemplate things further, Carson came into the room with a cheery look on his face, "Colonel Sheppard how are you this morning?"

"I'm feeling fine, so why am I still here?" There was a tickle in his throat when he'd finished speaking which led to a coughing fit.

"Are you sure your feeling, okay?" Carson asked as he placed a bendy straw in front of his lips.

After he had stopped coughing, he looked at Carson with his best puppy dog eyes, "Come on Carson I really need to go on this mission as soon as possible."

"And you will, as soon as Ronon and Teyla get back from New Athos I will release you from the infirmary and then you can go on the mission, on one condition."

"Of course, there was a condition there always had to be a condition, "and what is that?" He asked rolling his eyes.

"I will be on that mission so that I can keep an eye on you."

"I wouldn't expect anything less doc, so Doc did you want me for anything or are you just here to torture me some more?"

"Cheeky bugger," Carson muttered before continuing, "I was just here to see what you wanted for breakfast."

"Pancakes, with whipped cream, Maple Syrup and lots of coffee."

"I'll get one of the nurses to get it for you in a minute. Is there anything else that I can get for you because I think you're driving my nursing staff up the wall?"

"How about you let me leave?"

He had the sudden urge to cough again, but he managed to hold it back.

"Nice try Colonel, so tell me is there anything I can get for you?"

"Yeah, get me my computer and a few friends to talk to."

He didn't miss the eye roll that Carson gave him as he left the room, leaving him alone to his boredom. Hopefully, Rodney would come and visit him later that morning and he would help him escape so that he could get to the chair room and see how Atlantis was feeling.

oOo

The sun was shining, and the day was warm when Teyla walked into the Athosian settlement with Ronon by her side. It has been five days since she had left Torren with Kanaan and she couldn't wait to see him again – although she suspected that John was desperate to see Torren as well. When the mission was over, she had every intention of them being together as a family because she was going to ask John to move in with her and then she would ask him to undertake the boding ceremony with her. She knew that he would probably want some kind of earth ceremony as well, but she could live with that.

There was a chill in the air and when she looked over at the clearing, she realised that the Athosians were just finishing breakfast. Torren sat with Halling, and Kanaan was nowhere to be seen. She wondered where he'd gone because a few days ago he had seemed excited to be spending a few days extra with his son.

Ronon spoke in her ear before she had a chance to contemplate the situation further, "I'm off to do some hunting but I can stay if you need me to."

"No, it is alright Ronon, I will see you at lunchtime."

"Okay," he said kissing her on the cheek, "have a good time with Torren."

She nodded and watched him leave before walking over to the campfire in the clearing.

"Momma!" Torren squealed as she approached.

Sitting down on a log she held her arms out for him, "Sweetheart it is good to see you again."

Torren looked up at her with his big brown eyes, "where Da?"

"Daddy has been very sick and is in the infirmary at the moment, but he cannot wait to see you."

"When we see Da?"

"I do not know sweetheart, Daddy and I have some very important work to do, so I need you to stay here with your father for a few days."

"Who that?"

Sighing she turned to Halling who had just joined them, "Halling where is Kanaan?"

"He is off-world at the moment, so he has asked me to look after Torren."

Looking at her friend she soon realised that he was hiding something from her, "Halling what is really going on?"

Halling looked at his feet as he answered her, "he is off-world visiting his new lady friend."

Of course, he was, why would she expect Kanaan to start taking an interest in Torren now, he hadn't paid any attention to him since he'd been born.

"Can you please keep an eye on him for a few days, as John and I have an important mission to go on?"

Halling looked at her and smiled and it made her feel incredibly uncomfortable, "Kanaan mentioned that you and Colonel Sheppard have admitted your feelings for one another. It is about time too. I have sensed that you should be bonded from the moment I met him."

She blushed at him and looked at her feet, "apparently everyone knew it except for us. Anyway, can you look after Torren for a few days?"

"I would be honoured." He paused before continuing, "would you like me to give Kanaan a message when he gets back?"

"Do not tell him anything. I will talk to him later."

Halling nodded at her and smiled, "I will leave you alone with Torren for a while?"

She watched her friend walk off and turned to her son – John's son – and he was playing in the dirt in front of the log she was sitting on. He seemed so engrossed in what he was doing that she wondered if he was going to listen to her, "Torren John."

He looked up at her with his big brown eyes and they reminded her of the adult Torren back on Atlantis and she wondered what this Torren would be like as he grew up – she hoped that she would get to see it.

"Yes, Momma?"

"Daddy and I have a very important mission to go on, so I need you to stay with Halling for a couple of days."

"Yes, Momma?" He replied while still playing in the dirt.

He looked as if he was going to cry and her heart almost broke. She wanted to bring him back to Atlantis with her, but what was she going to do with him if she did? Perhaps Jennifer or Amelia could look after him while she and John were on the mission to Arastica. But what then? What if they didn't make it back, who would look after him then? She shook her head at the negative thoughts since she knew that if anything happened to her or John, her friends on Atlantis would look after her son.

"Torren, look at me?"

He looked up at her and she could see tears brimming in his small eyes.

"Would you like to come back to Atlantis and stay with Amelia, or Dr Keller while Momma and Daddy go on the mission?"

A smile lit up his tiny face," We see Daddy first?"

"Yes sweetheart, you can spend some time with him before we go on our mission."

"Yay!" Torren said and threw his tiny arms around her.

Picking him up in her arms she went to look for Halling to tell him what was going on. She found him in one of the other clearings talking to some of the Athosian council.

"Halling, I have decided to take Torren back to Atlantis with me. I hope you do not mind?"

"I do not mind; would you like me to give Kannan a message when he returns?"

"Just tell him I have taken my son back to Atlantis and if he wants to see him, he should make sure that he stays on new Athos and spends time with him."

"Would you like me to send Ronon back when I see him?"

"Thank you, Halling, the sooner Ronon comes back the sooner we can go on our mission."

With that Teyla picked Torren up and headed back to Atlantis, with tears brimming her eyes. She should have known that Kanaan would not change and that he would never want to spend time with his son. That is why at the first available opportunity she was going to go ahead with the Athosian ceremony to officially make John Torren's father.

Torren looked at her with his big brown eyes and asked her softly, "wat Wong Momma?"

"I am just upset that Kanaan did not want to spend any time with you."

Torren put his chubby little arms around her, "It Otay Momma."

Smiling down at her son, she started towards the stargate and the first thing she was going to do when she got back was to take Torren to see John in the infirmary.

oOo

Sighing John lay back on his pillows, he'd managed to eat a stack of pancakes with whipped cream and maple syrup and a cup of coffee, but now he was stuffed full and still bored. Perhaps he would go back to sleep again since he had nothing else to do. He knew that Teyla and Ronon would be on New Athos with baby Torren until after lunch, so his only hope was that Rodney, Dave and grown-up Torren would come and help him escape from the infirmary.

Closing his eyes, he tried to ignore the tickle in his throat hoping that it would go away, but with no such luck, the tickle began to build until he started coughing uncontrollably. He reached for the glass of water on the bedside table and managed to take a long drink, even though his hand was shaking. The first thing he noticed when he'd finished coughing was a loud annoying voice, which was a problem because the coughing fit had worn him out.

"Why are you still coughing Sheppard, surely you must be over it by now? Are you sure you're not contagious because if you are I'm leaving?"

He looked up to see Rodney and Torren standing beside his bed, "Rodney, quit insulting me and get me out of here?"

"Where do you want to go, Dad?" Torren asked sitting on the side of his bed.

"Take me to the chair room? I want to know if Atlantis still thinks I'm infected by some kind of virus. Although I think it was Arastica trying to communicate with me that offended her. I even think she was a little jealous that I'd been connecting with another city."

"Really, why would she be jealous. I had no idea that Atlantis could feel emotion. Anyway, I was thinking that you should go and use the control chair as well, "Rodney told him with a grin," that's why I brought your clothes for you. Unless you want to wander around Atlantis in a gown."

"Thanks, McKay, but what about Carson, is he going to realise what is going on?"

"Don't worry, there was a medical emergency in my lab, so we have about fifteen minutes to get out of here."

He had a suspicion that Rodney had made up the medical emergency to get Carson out of the infirmary.

"There's no emergency is there?"

"Of course not, but Dave will keep him occupied for hours, so how about we get going before Keller comes on duty."

He nodded and took his clothes off Rodney and closed the privacy curtains around the bed. His leg was a bit stiff as he climbed out of bed, but it was nothing that was going to stop him from going to the chair room or going on the mission to Arastica.

It took him five minutes to get dressed and he was relieved that Carson or Keller hadn't arrived in that time.

"Let's get going before Keller or Carson turn up and they keep here a few days longer just out of spite?"

A noise in the main part of the infirmary caught his attention, so he knew that he had to be quick. He put his finger to his lips to indicate to the others that they should remain quiet and then he rushed out the back exit of the infirmary.

Five minutes later when they approached the chair room, he was happy that Carson hadn't come looking for them. His leg was feeling a little stiff and sore and he was out of breath, but hopefully the tickle in his throat wouldn't lead to a coughing fit.

He was relieved when he finally sat down in the chair and what was even better was that he could hear Atlantis' gently humming to him. He was about to lay back and connect with her when Rodney's loud annoying voice cut through his peaceful contemplations.

"Hurry up Sheppard, Dave's just contacted me and Carson's looking for you and he's on the warpath."

"Tell Dave to hold him off for a bit longer and then hopefully we can get back to the infirmary before Carson realises what's going on."

"I'll go and help Dave," Torren suggested before rushing out of the room.

Once Torren had left the room, he lay back and gave into Atlantis' sweet embrace.

A figure walked towards him, and it was an image of his mother again, "Atlantis, is that you?"

"Yes, John Sheppard. You appear to be well, and the virus seems to have been eliminated from your body."

"I don't think it was a virus Atlantis, I think that Arastica has been trying to communicate with me from the past. I know when she was infected with the Wraith virus and believe me when I say that she never welcomed the Wraith to walk her halls."

Atlantis looked at him – well his mother's image looked at him, "I do not know what to say. Perhaps I should trust you and believe that Arastica didn't welcome the wraith all those years ago."

"Thank you for believing me Atlantis and I promise that if I can manage to prevent the virus from being released into her systems, I will find a way for you to be able to communicate with her again."

"Thank your John, but now you must go because the one known as Carson is looking for you. Don't be too hard on him because he only has your best interests at heart? As do I."

"I know you're right about him Atlantis, but sometimes he's just a little too overprotective."

"Just think about what I have said?"

"I will."

He watched as the image of his mother began to fade and he was able to disconnect from the chair. It took him a while to get his bearings, when he did, he wasn't surprised to find Carson standing in front of him with his hands on his hips and he didn't look happy. Unfortunately, Rodney and Torren were nowhere in sight.

"Oh, hey doc."

Carson stared at him and when he spoke his voice was emotionless, "Colonel Sheppard. I have been looking for you all over the place."

He put on his best puppy dog look and his most charming smile before answering him, "I'm sorry doc, but I really needed to speak with Atlantis."

"You know you didn't have to stage an infirmary break. I was thinking of releasing you to your quarters after lunch."

"Ohh…well, why didn't you tell me that doc?"

"Because you didn't give me a chance."

Again, he was sorry for not talking to the doctor and now he feared that he would be stuck in the infirmary for another day, so he pulled out the puppy dog look again, "So can I still go after lunch Doc?"

"I will consider it, but why don't you come back to the infirmary because there are some people waiting to see you."

He knew that was the best offer he was going to get from the doctor and there was no point in arguing with him, so he got out of the chair. When he stood on his semi-healed leg, he realised that it was even more stiff and sore than it had been when he entered the chair room, and he didn't miss the glare that Carson gave him. Although he was thankful that the doctor didn't say anything. At that moment he wondered why he hadn't asked Atlantis to heal his leg and get rid of the tickle he was feeling in the back of his throat.

"Hey doc, do you think I can ask Atlantis to finish healing me?"

"To the infirmary now Colonel! Or do I have to call for a gurney?"

"No need to get nasty doc."

Rather than continue the conversation with the angry doctor, he turned and limped towards the infirmary knowing that he would probably be kept there for a few days longer thanks to his escape.

Ten minutes later he was back in a gown and laying in bed again and he wasn't happy. Carson had left to find him some lunch and he was bored again. When he'd asked the doctor what was with the gown, the doctor had just glared at him and left the room, so he knew that he was in trouble.

He was staring at the ceiling and wondering whether he should go back to sleep again when a small voice spoke, "Da, you otay?"

His heart swelled at the sound and for the moment he was much happier, "hey T.J I didn't expect to see you here?"

"Kanaan ran away."

Before he had a chance to respond to Torren's last statement, Teyla came into the room, "John you do not need to worry about what Kanaan has done. The main thing is that Torren is here to see you now."

"It otay Da, I seep."

"It's fine by me pal. Perhaps I can talk to Momma then."

Once he had helped Torren to climb into the bed next to him, he turned to Teyla with a questioning look.

"What does he mean that Kanaan ran away?"

"Apparently Kanaan has a new lady friend, and he has been off-world visiting her. I do not have a problem with Kanaan moving on, the problem I have is that he left Torren with Halling when he should have been looking after him. I do not understand how he could do that to his own son."

John reached out, grabbed her hand, and started to stroke the back of it, "I don't know why you would expect anything different. He hasn't spent much time with Torren since he was born. I am sorry that upsets you, but I want you to know that I could never do that to you or Torren."

She looked at him with tears brimming in her eyes, "I know that you would never do that to me or Torren. That is why when all this is over, I want to be bonded with you for life. I would also like you to undertake the Athosian ceremony to officially be recognised as Torren's father."

"I would be honoured to be bonded to you for life and I would love nothing more to become Torren's father as well. I would also like to adopt Torren according to earth customs."

"Would you like to have some kind of earth wedding as well?"

He smiled at his future wife and at the moment he couldn't be happier – his mood would probably change over the next day or two when they had to deal with the wraith though, "I think a small simple affair with Woolsey officiating would be enough for me."

"In that case, we have plenty of reason to come back from this mission and I suggest that we start to look for an apartment when you get out of here."

"I don't think that Carson is ever going to let me out of here after the stunt I pulled today."

"You can leave after lunch and I have told Mr Woolsey that you will be able to go on the mission in two days," Carson said entering the room with a tray full of food, "your leg will be a bit stiff and sore for a while and you may cough at nights, but you're over the worst of things now."

He narrowed his eyes at the doctor, worried that he may be messing with him, "are you sure doc? I mean you're not messing with me, are you?"

Carson just shook his head and smiled, "eat your lunch and then I'll let you go."

Once the doctor had left the room, he handed a sleeping Torren off to Teyla and took the lid off the tray and he was happy to find that a turkey sandwich along with a glass of juice sat on the plate.

"Hey Dad, do you mind if we join you for lunch, "grown-up Torren asked walking into the room along with Ronon and Dave.

"Come right in, the more the merrier, but we're not going to tear a hole in the space-time continuum by you being here with your younger self, are we?"

Adult Torren just rolled his eyes and took his younger self off Teyla, "do you know what? I really am a cute kid."

Now it was John's turn to roll his eyes, "if you say so," he joked.

Dave smiled at Torren, "I wish I could have known you as a kid Torren, my mom and dad spoke of you often."

John's heart broke when he thought of Sheppard and the other Teyla. A lot of what had happened in the future was still fresh in his mind and it would probably take him a long time to get over it. But for now, he was surrounded by his family and for the moment that was enough.

TBC…

Dave is an alternate Sheppard and Teyla's son from the future. This is covered in my story 'A glitch in time,' if you haven't read it, you may like to go back and have a look at it.

This has been a bit of a filler chapter, but their off on the mission to Arastica in the next chapter.