Warning: There may be some John and Teyla mush in this chapter. G rated of course.

Chapter 11: A new friend.

There was a chill in the air and a fine mist was covering the landscape when he awoke the next morning and the last thing John wanted to do was get out of his sleeping bag. The fire had died down at some point during the night and by the looks of it, no one had bothered to stoke it up again this morning. The others were nowhere to be seen, so he decided that perhaps he should get up to go and find out what they were up to – that's if they were even still around the campsite. Chances are Rodney, Torren and Dave were still asleep because they probably stayed up most of the night talking about who knows what. Ronon and Teyla were probably off hunting or running and he had no idea where Carson or Todd would be.

Today was the day that they were expecting the wraith hive ship to come through the anomaly and although he'd had a good night's sleep, he was nowhere near ready to face it. Perhaps after another few nights of sound sleep, he might consider himself as being ready. Who was he kidding, he'd never be ready to face a hive ship full of super drones.

Yawning he sat up and shivered as he got out of his sleeping bag. He still had his clothes on from the day before, but that didn't mean he wasn't cold. When he finally got to his feet he headed off through the woods in the direction of the river, hoping to find the others there since they didn't seem to be in the vicinity of the jumper. He knew that the water would be freezing but he needed to freshen up ready to start the day – not that he had much to do before the hive ship came through the anomaly.

As he approached the river, he saw a red-headed man in the distance, and he wondered if this was the man he'd seen in the vision that Arastica had given him – if it was, he was convinced that he was about to meet one of his ancestors and that was just plain weird. He wondered what kind of effect that would have on the timeline. He knew that he'd have to tuck that question away and ask Rodney or Torren later.

He approached the river slowly as the red-headed man had his back to him. Clearing his throat to try and give the man some warning, he spoke to him, "Hi, how are you going?"

The man turned to look at him and he was the splitting image of him – except for the red hair – and that was definitely weird.

"Who are you and how did you get here?"

The thought crossed his mind to make something up, but perhaps he'd better tell him the truth, "My name is John Sheppard, and would you believe me if I told you that I came here from the future through an anomaly created on Arastica."

"So that was an anomaly I saw out in space yesterday. I'm glad to know that our experiments in time travel have worked – or at least they will at some point in the future. What about the experiments in scanning timelines, do they work? Is that why you're here; are you from another reality?"

"There is a Wraith hive-ship due to come through another anomaly within a few hours and they intend to infect Arastica with a virus. The problem is this is an event that isn't supposed to happen and the ramifications for future generations could be catastrophic. And to answer your other question, yes in the future scientists will have the ability to read alternate realities – thanks to your work here."

The red-headed man stared at him, "Really? What difference should it make? We're about to head back to Earth as the wraith are too numerous and are about to overrun Atlantis. We need to do our best to preserve Atlantis in the hope that our descendants will return to the city one day."

He was incredulous by what he had just heard, as usual, the Ancients didn't give a dam about the Consequences of their actions and what made it worse was this man was probably one of his ancestors. He knew that he could never be that indifferent to the state of things in the Pegasus galaxy.

"Look umm…you haven't even told me your name."

"My name is Nickel."

He looked at the man and tried to read him, but Nickel had a blank look on his face, "Okay then Nickel would you believe that we come from ten thousand years in the future, and I believe that I am one of your descendants. We came from Earth and found Atlantis again, but we also found Arastica in my future and she wasn't doing too well. So, I intend to prevent her from ever being infected by the wraith virus."

Nickel was quite indifferent to the fact that he was quite possibly his descendant, "Well, it's your life, but we're heading back to earth no matter what happens. That has already been decided."

John was still annoyed by this man's attitude; he was arrogant and condescending – much like he expected the ancients to be.

"Well, why don't you help us eliminate the virus and then one day in the distant future, your descendants can walk the halls of Arastica again. Perhaps Atlantis and Arastica can communicate as well."

For a moment Nickel looked concerned, "Arastica and Atlantis aren't communicating in the future?"

"Yes, and what makes matters worse is that Atlantis thinks that Arastica welcomed the wraith to walk within her walls."

He could see that Nickel was coming around to his way of thinking and hopefully, he was going to help them. Maybe he could convince others to help them as well – not that he knew where his friends were right now.

"Perhaps I can help you and I know a few others that may be able to help as well. What about you, where are your friends?"

"Umm…. I have no idea right now, but maybe I should head back to the jumper and find out."

"A Jumper?" Nickel asked looking confused.

He sighed, of course, the ancients wouldn't call the puddle jumpers, jumpers, "the small ships that go through the stargates."

Nickel nodded his head and smiled, "ahh…the gate ships."

Great he thought, Rodney better not get wind of this otherwise, he's going to give me hell for days.

"Never mind what they're called, my point is perhaps we should go and look for my friends."

He was about to head off, when he realised that he hadn't done what he came for, "Hang on a minute Nickel, I haven't had a chance to freshen up yet."

For the first time, he noticed that Nickel had a gun in his hand, and it looked a lot like Ronon's, so he had to wonder what he was doing out here.

"What were you doing here?"

"I was just doing a spot of hunting when I saw a deer heading towards the river. I was just about to shoot when you interrupted me."

"Sorry," John muttered.

"Never mind. Why don't you freshen up and then we'll go and look for your friends? But I must warn you the water is freezing at this time of the year."

"I know, I spent several weeks here in the future and then I had to come back because I was infected with a strange bacterium that was held at bay by the strange radiation on this planet."

"We have been researching that bacterium for years and believe it or not we have just found the cure recently. The cure should be in the database."

"Yes, my son found it in the future."

"It's good to know that our research will be put to good use one day."

Nodding at Nickel he decided that he should wash up and then head off to find his friends, as they were probably worried about him by now – that's if they were even back at the campsite.

He watched as Nickel walked away and then waded into the shallows of the river. It was a spot he remembered from the future, so he knew how shallow it was – he also remembered how cold it was at this time of the year. Being in the river brought back memories of his other self and the time they had spent together before Sheppard had passed. He smiled fondly when he thought of fishing in the rain and the jumper ride, they took over the planet. Even though Sheppard had constantly lied to him, he still thought fondly of the man.

Once he had finished his wash up, he looked around and found Nickel sitting on the bank waiting for him. He couldn't quite read what the man was thinking, but he sure hoped that the thoughts toward him were positive.

Eventually, he got out of the water and started walking towards the jumper, hoping that Nickel was following. The day was certainly shaping up to be interesting.

oOo

Teyla walked into the campsite after a morning walk, through the woods. She had woken up early and decided not to wake John since he seemed to be exhausted the night before and she suspected that he hadn't slept well. Ronon had left to go hunting for breakfast about the same time and Torren and Dave had gone into the jumper to try and wake Rodney and Carson. She was positive that Carson would be up early, but Rodney was a lot more difficult to get out of bed when they were off-world. When he was on Atlantis, they struggled to get him out of his lab and into bed, but it definitely wasn't the case when they were out in the field.

She was pleasantly surprised to see that everyone was up and Ronon was cooking another Deer over the fire – which was a good thing because she was beginning to feel hungry. The only person that was missing was John – Todd was nowhere to be seen either, but that was nothing unusual and she knew that he would turn up at some point. She didn't even want to think about the fact that Todd could well be looking for a meal.

"Does anyone know where John is?"

Rodney shook his head, "nope I've only just come out of the jumper."

"He's probably just gone for a walk, so he'll be fine," Ronon mumbled.

Dave and Torren looked at her and shook their heads before they continued with their conversation.

She knew that Ronon was right, but it didn't stop her from worrying about him. Anything could have happened to him.

Sighing she sat down on the log and watched Ronon cook breakfast. Torren, Rodney and Dave were talking about science, as usual, so she really had nothing else to do for the moment.

A sound in the woods caught her attention and when she turned around, she was happy to see that John was coming toward her. A stranger walked beside him, and the man was the splitting image of John except for the unruly red hair on top of his head – well it was more ginger actually.

"John where have you been all morning?"

"Sorry Teyla, but I decided I needed a bit of a wash-up – where have you been all morning?"

She didn't miss the sarcasm in his voice, and he did have a point, she had just taken off on her morning walk and not bothered to tell him – or anyone else for that matter – what was going on. They were all adults and could look after themselves, but for some reason, she seemed more worried about John than usual.

Before she had a chance to comment on the man standing next to him, Rodney butted in, "I see you've picked up a stray Sheppard?"

"Now Rodney, be nice," John commented, "this is Nickel, and he is going to see if he can convince some of his friends to help us when the hive ship comes through the anomaly."

Teyla watched on as Rodney stared at Nickel and she wondered whether he was going to comment on the fact that he looked a lot like John – except for the ginger hair.

"Umm…Sheppard, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure McKay, what's up?"

"Can we talk someplace other than here, just you and me?"

John sighed and Teyla sensed that he wasn't happy, but he nodded anyway.

"Okay McKay, come with me and then you can tell me what you're thinking and please hurry because I'm starving?"

She watched as John and Rodney walked towards the river and when they were out of sight she turned back to see what the others were doing. They were all eating their breakfast in silence, and no one appeared to be paying any attention to Nickel – except for Ronon, who seemed to be staring at him.

Ronon finally stopped staring and opened his mouth, "So were spying on us last night?"

She remembered that Ronon was staring into the distance once or twice last night, so it was a distinct possibility that he had heard something in the trees.

"Yes, I was, and I apologise, but I was just curious about you. When I saw John by the river this morning, I thought that it might be a good time to introduce myself."

"So, Nickel how long have you been on Arastica?" Torren asked finally looking up from his food.

"I have been on Arastica for many years and before that, I was born on Atlantis."

It was at this point Teyla realised that they hadn't introduced themselves, "I have just realised that we have not told you, our names. I am Teyla of Athos, and this is my son Torren," she told him pointing to Torren.

"I'm Ronon."

"And I'm Dave."

"I'm Carson."

Nickel turned to her and smiled, "Torren is your son, how is that possible."

"Torren and Dave come from a different time from the rest of us. The first time I met them John and I went through and malfunctioning anomaly and ended up fifty years in our future."

"Dave is not John's son?" Nickel asked looking confused.

It was Dave who answered that question, "I am another version of John Sheppard's son." When Nickel just stared at him, he continued, "it's complicated and a long story, so maybe I'll tell you at some other time. We have three hours until an anomaly from the future opens and a hive ship full of super wraith crashes on this planet, so maybe you should go and see if you can round up some friends to help."

"Yes, you are right. I will be on my way, and I will meet you back here in one hour. I will also warn our leader Johan, that a hive ship from the future is on the way."

She nodded and smiled at him, "thank you Nickel any help you can give us will be much appreciated."

He just smiled and walked away heading in the direction of Arastica. She really hoped that he could help them because she really had no idea how they were going to pull it off on their own.

oOo

Rodney was suspicious of Nickel the minute he saw him, so he knew that he had to get Sheppard away from Nickel to tell him of his concerns. Sheppard seemed to be in a rush, and he suspected that his friend wasn't happy so he quickly followed after him. He didn't blame Sheppard for being angry at him, but he had his reasons for being cautious and Sheppard needed to know about them.

After about five minutes they came to the river, where Sheppard finally stopped and turned to face him, "okay McKay why don't you tell me what your problem is?"

"Do you realise that Nickel is possibly one of your ancestors?"

"Yes, McKay I realise that so what's the problem."

Sheppard was an idiot if he didn't realise that asking Nickel to help them could create a huge time paradox, "For a smart man, you can be a real idiot."

John just stared at him and when he answered, Rodney sensed the cold anger in his voice, "And why is that!?"

"What if he is killed and he can't get back to earth."

John looked at him with confusion, "What difference will that make? I already exist and my timeline is continuous, so it shouldn't create a problem. You told me that yourself remember."

"Well, we don't know for sure. For all we know, if your ancestor is killed you may just cease to exist."

"So, I might just fade away, like Marty in 'Back to the future'?"

He wasn't impressed with Sheppard's obsession with that particular movie, so he just rolled his eyes as he answered, "Umm…well I don't know for sure what will happen, but maybe."

"Well McKay, seeing as if we don't know for sure I think that we should go ahead with the plan and see what happens. We must protect Arastica at all costs no matter what the personal cost to me or anyone else. Just think what could be achieved if we had two ancient cities working together to help us rid the galaxy of the Wraith?"

"You do realise if you cease to exist none of us will remember you, every memory of you will be erased from the universe, and you will never have been born."

"Look Rodney, you said yourself that this may never happen, so can we please stop talking about it because my head is beginning to hurt?"

"I just want you to know all the variables if Nickel is your ancestor and he dies."

"Thanks for your concern, Rodney, but I think we should proceed as planned."

"Right then I'm heading back to finish my breakfast. Are you coming, Sheppard?"

"Nah, suddenly I'm not hungry so you go ahead, and I think I'll stay here for a while."

Nodding his head Rodney left his friend sitting by the river. For everything he had studied and knew about time travel and quantum mechanics, there were still many things that he still didn't know, but the one thing he knew for sure was how much he hated it.

oOo

The conversation that he'd just had with Rodney had John concerned, what if Rodney was right and if his ancestor was killed, would he just disappear? What would happen to Teyla and Torren then, would she still be with Kanaan, or would she be with someone else? And what was worse was that she would have no memory of him as he would never have existed. At the end of the day, these thoughts didn't bear thinking about because what Rodney had said may just be wrong. Although Rodney never liked to admit he was wrong there were certainly times that he was – he hoped that this was one of them.

Sighing he took one last look at the river and the cascading waterfall and headed back towards the campsite knowing that within a few hours the hive ship would be upon them and he wouldn't have time to think of such things.

As he slowly approached the campsite, he sent up a prayer to whoever was listening that today's mission would be a success and he would be able to get back home to see his son soon – the baby version of his son. And the first thing he was going to do when he got home was to ask Teyla to marry him, or maybe he would ask her now because if he didn't, he may never get a chance.

He walked into the campsite and went to sit next to Teyla on the log, "hey Teyla, can I have a word with you in private?"

When she nodded, he grabbed her hand and pulled her up before heading off into the woods again.

"What is this about?" Teyla asked when they finally stopped.

He knew that he needed to do this right, so he got down on one knee and held her hand, "Teyla Emmagan, will you marry me?"

"Yes, John I would love to marry you and be bonded to you for life." She answered and she didn't look very excited about the prospect, "but why are you asking me now?"

"I don't know…I guess that if I don't make it back, I want you to know how much I love you. That's if you even remember me."

Teyla looked confused, "why would I not remember you, John?"

At that moment he wondered if he should tell her what Rodney had told her, or should she be kept in the dark. He had no idea which would be kinder if he disappeared.

In the end, he decided to tell her the truth, "Umm…there is a possibility that Nickel is my ancestor," when she nodded at him, he took a deep breath and continued, "well Rodney has hypothesised that if Nickel is killed that I may cease to exist, and it would be as if I was never born."

A worried looked crossed her face as she spoke softly to him, "what exactly does that mean?"

"It means that if I cease to exist, it would be like I was never born and if I was never born no one would have any memory of me."

Teyla's eyes were wide, and he hated the look of hurt that crossed her face, "I do not believe that will happen John you are extremely memorable and somehow I will remember you."

She had to be the most remarkable woman he had ever met and at that moment he made the decision that he was definitely going to make it home and spend the rest of his life with her. To do that he knew that he needed to protect Nickel at all costs, so perhaps he needed to enlist Ronon to help him with that.

"I love you Teyla and I will do everything in my power to make sure that I come home to be with you and Torren."

"I love you too John, so how about we go and get this mission over with?"

Taking Teyla's hand, he walked back to the campsite to wait with the others for the hive ship to come through. Looking at his watch he realised that they had an hour and a half left, so that was plenty of time to go over their plan one more time and hopefully Nickel would be back shortly with some help.

When they arrived back at the campsite he went and sat on the log next to Ronon; perhaps now was the time to have a conversation with him about what Rodney had said to him.

Dave, Torren, and Rodney were sitting together and all three were silent. They all looked petrified of what was to come – Rodney in particular.

Nickel was there sitting next to Todd and looking very wary of him. Apparently, when Nickel had come back to the campsite he had panicked when he saw Todd, but Ronon had explained that Todd was their ally in the future, and he had already killed his queen once. Ronon had mumbled this to him the minute he sat down.

Looking around the clearing he realised that Nickel was on his own and he obviously hadn't convinced anyone else to help them, which was going to make it harder to protect the man.

"So Nickel, is there anyone else coming to help?"

"No, unfortunately, the only thing they are thinking of is going back to earth. They are all running scared."

Taking a deep breath, he decided to give him a final chance to back out, "are you sure you want to help us?"

For a moment Nickel seemed indecisive and then a look of resolve crossed his face, "I'm not going to back out of this. Helping you is the right thing because one day I would like to think that Arastica and Atlantis will communicate again, and I would like to think that my descendants are walking the halls of both cities."

Teyla looked at him and smiled, "thank you, Nickel."

The group fell into silence and all John could do was contemplate what was to come. In the next two hours, he would either succeed in his mission or fail and if he failed the consequences could be catastrophic – not just for him.

TBC…