Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate or any of its characters. I do love to write about them though.
This story is set after the end of the TV series and Atlantis is back in the Pegasus galaxy.
Chapter 1: A visit with some old friends.
The puddle jumper flew through the stargate onto New Athos; although technically it was New, New Athos as New Athos had been destroyed by Michael and his hybrids. Michael had then taken the Athosians prisoner and experimented on them, turning some of them into hybrids. When the Athosians were rescued and returned to their human selves, they had lived on the mainland of New Lantia for a while, until John Sheppard and his team from Atlantis had found them a planet with a Stargate to live on. That was right before Atlantis had ended up on earth sitting right in the middle of San Francisco Bay.
Now after six months of sitting around and waiting for a bunch of bureaucrats to decide their fate, in the end, they had reluctantly agreed to send Atlantis back to the Pegasus galaxy. John suspected that it had more to do with the fact that Atlantis had ended up in American waters, than anything else, which had made a lot of other countries nervous.
It hadn't been the worst thing in the world to be stuck on Earth as it had given him time to try and re-establish ties with his brother and he was amazed that they had actually gotten along for the first time in years. They had exchanged emails and promised to write to each other often. Most of the time on earth he was left playing boss though, as Woolsey had spent most of that time in meetings with the IOA and stargate command, trying to convince them that it was the right thing for Atlantis the head back to the Pegasus galaxy.
There wasn't really much to do while Woolsey was away, other than training the new troops and keeping McKay and Zelenka from killing each other, so he was bored out of his brain most of the time. On a positive note, he'd been promoted to full bird Colonel and received the medal of honour at a special ceremony a few weeks after they had arrived on earth. But there were days when he still wondered if his promotion would have happened if they hadn't been stuck on earth.
They had arrived back in the Pegasus galaxy two days ago and landed on a new planet that Colonel Caldwell had managed to find for them on one of the Daedalus' last reconnaissance missions. It was similar to their old planet New Lantia as it had a large ocean, a few scattered islands, and a large mainland. In fact, the two planets were so similar that John and his team had named the planet New Lantia 2. The only difference was that the weather was much cooler than the original planet, but they hadn't seen any snow yet, which led him to hope that it wasn't that cold.
The minute Atlantis had landed on New Lantia 2 Woolsey had become eager to re-establish ties with their allies. Unfortunately for John, he and his team had been given the job of contacting the Athosians. It's not that he had a problem with the Athosians; he just didn't like Kanaan, as he was the father of Teyla's child and her partner. When they were back on earth, he had entertained the idea that he and Teyla could become a couple, but now that they were back in the Pegasus galaxy, she was able to be reunited with Kanaan again and he knew that he didn't stand a chance.
He had been watching her for the last couple of days and she had been happier than he had seen her for the last six months, so it was obvious that she was excited about seeing Kanaan again. He had to wonder if she was going to perform the bonding ceremony with him now that they were back on New Athos. The thought of it sent shivers down his spine and he certainly hoped that she wouldn't ask him to be involved if it ever happened.
Sighing he looked across at her as she held her eighteen-month-old son Torren John in her arms, it had been decided that she should bring him along on their mission so that he could see his father again. Although John had no idea why because there was no way that the child would remember Kanaan, in fact, he'd spent more time with Torren since he'd been born than his father had. Teyla had named her son after him and he still had no idea why, surely, she should have named him Torren Kanaan after his grandfather and father?
Torren was growing up fast and the child was walking, which led to him getting into all sorts of mischief, luckily, he was there to help Teyla keep an eye on him, Ronon was a big help in that area as well, but Rodney paid little attention to the child and every time he was around him, Rodney seemed scared. Torren had started to speak in the last couple of months as well, and one of his first words was Da, Teyla had told him that she suspected that he was trying to say John, but he liked to think that he was calling him Dad.
He shook himself out of his funk because he had decided the minute that he had heard that Atlantis was to head back to the Pegasus galaxy that if Teyla wanted to be with Kanaan, he would support her in that, she was his best friend after all. But now he was beginning to regret that sentiment because as far as he was concerned Kanaan wasn't worthy of her.
Rodney had decided to stay in his lab because apparently, he had more important work to do than to go on a meet and greet mission. John had expressed his disapproval to Woolsey, and he had told him that as military commander it was part of his job to contact their allies and even though Woolsey had seemed a bit harsh, he knew that he was probably right. It didn't stop him from being annoyed with Rodney though because Rodney always seemed to find a way to get out of things he didn't want to do.
He was grateful that Ronon had decided to accompany them though as he didn't want to be stuck talking to the Athosians by himself, well Kanaan anyway.
A tap on his shoulder startled him out of his contemplations, "Sheppard are you alright?"
"Yeah, Chewie, I'm just thinking about what may have gone on in the Pegasus galaxy in our absence." He knew that was a lie, but there was no way he would admit the truth. Although he had given the state of the Pegasus Galaxy a lot of thought before they had come on this mission
"Well believe it not you've just landed the jumper just outside of the Athosian settlement," Ronon answered with a mischievous grin.
"Yes, I am eager to see Halling and I would like Kanaan to be able to spend some time with Torren. I was actually going to ask if he wanted to look after him for a few days." Teyla suggested with a smile that lit up her face.
Normally he loved her smile, but when she was thinking of Kanaan, he didn't want to have to look at it; he knew he sounded petty, but right now he didn't care.
For the first time since they'd landed, which was something he didn't remember doing, he looked out of the front window at his surroundings, and it didn't take him long to realise that the Athosians had constructed some more permanent structures since they'd been on Earth. The view was as amazing, with snow-capped mountains with a river snaking through them in the distance and rolling hills full of wildlife and wildflowers. They had landed in grassland, and he could see buffalo like creatures grazing nearby.
When he looked at Ronon and Teyla again he realised that they were staring at him, "what?!" He asked with annoyance.
"John we would like to be able to visit with my people now," Teyla replied calmly.
Sighing he opened the back hatch and there was no doubt in his mind that he wanted her reunion with Kanaan to be over as soon as possible, but then what would happen if Kanaan decided to come and stay on Atlantis again, or worse still what would happen if Teyla decided to go and live on New Athos, those thoughts were too painful to think about, so he quickly followed his friends out of the Jumper.
The day was warm, the sun was shining, there was a gentle breeze in the air and the sky was a brilliant blue, so in reality, he couldn't have asked for a nicer place to be, but he also knew that very soon he would have to deal with Teyla's reunion with Kanaan and although he kept telling himself to be happy for her, he really couldn't bring himself to do so.
A little voice startled him out of his musings, "Da up?"
Looking down he saw that Torren or T.J. as he'd started to call him was holding his arms up and it was obvious that he wanted to be carried.
He certainly didn't have a problem with that, so he acquiesced to the kid's demands.
Once T.J was in his arms and the boy's head was resting on his shoulder he began a slow walk to the settlement. Ronon and Teyla were walking ahead of him, but he didn't mind as it gave him some special time with Torren because soon enough the child would be in his father's arms again and once that happened, he had no idea how long it would be until he could hold the child again.
"I'm going to go and do some hunting for a while," Ronon suggested before walking off in the opposite direction of the settlement.
He called to him before he had a chance to go too far, "hey Chewie don't go too far."
Ronon merely waved at him and continued to walk off.
A few minutes later he arrived in the settlement, and it was just in time to see Teyla bow her head towards Kanaan in the traditional Athosian greeting, "Kanaan it has been many days since I last saw you."
"Far too many days, my love, "Kanaan replied.
Watching the greeting made his heart sink, until now he'd still held out hope that Kanaan and Teyla were just friend's who'd hooked up for a short time and had a son, but now he knew for sure that they were a couple, at least in Kanaan eyes they were. He tried to stand there with a neutral look on his face, but he wasn't sure he was succeeding.
Kanaan turned towards him with a strange look on his face and it made him shudder, "Lt Colonel Sheppard it is good to see you again," Kanaan paused to look at the child in his arms, "may I hold my son now?"
He really didn't want to let T.J go, much like when Torren had first been born and he'd had to hold him while he flew a wraith dart away from Michael's hive ship. He'd been barely conscious when he had landed the dart and released his team from the wraith storage device, but there was no way that he was going to let the child go. Eventually, Teyla had assured him that it was alright and that they were all safe, so he had reluctantly handed Torren over to her.
"Sure, and it's just Colonel now," he said and reluctantly handed Torren over to his father.
His heart broke when T.J started to cry and hold his hands out towards him, while trying to get away from Kanaan, "Da!" He screamed.
"Yes, Torren I am your Da, "Kanaan told the boy, but T.J just screamed louder.
"Perhaps I will take him now," Teyla suggested soothingly.
John was relieved when Kanaan handed Torren to her because immediately Torren stopped crying and snuggled into her arms.
"Did you hear that?" Kanaan said with excitement, "he called me Dad."
He didn't know what to say to that because clearly, Torren wasn't calling him Da, and T.J. was distressed that Kanaan was holding him, he really wanted to say something, but he didn't quite know what to say. Luckily Teyla said it for him.
"Torren is calling John Da, but I believe that he is trying to say, John."
Well, that's not exactly what he would have said to him, but at least Kanaan wasn't holding T.J. now.
The look on Kanaan's face could only be described as one of complete devastation and he really felt as if he needed to say something to him, but again Teyla spoke and tried to placate Kanaan.
"Do not worry Kanaan, I am sure that if Torren spends some time with you, he will soon realise that you are his father. In fact, I was wondering if you would like Torren to stay with you for a few days."
"I would love that, thank you Teyla," Kanaan replied, and a huge grin crossed his face.
Ouch! John thought, Teyla certainly made it clear that Kannan is T.J.'s father so maybe I'd better back off.
Before he had a chance to say anything Halling came up to greet them, "Teyla it has many days since I saw you last," Halling said while bowing his head towards her in the traditional Athosian greeting.
"It has been far too many days," Teyla replied.
Halling then turned to him and held out his hand for a handshake, "and Colonel it is good to see you again. Will you be joining us for the midday meal?"
"That would be great Halling, but first I think I'll go for a walk and look for Ronon." He said before walking away.
John slowly walked away from the scene that was playing itself out in front of him. Watching Kanaan and Teyla playing happy families was the last thing he wanted to see, although it was nothing that he hadn't expected, he just wasn't quite as prepared for it as he thought he would be.
"John," Teyla called out interrupting his thoughts.
He turned to face her and plastered the best fake smile on his face, "shouldn't you be enjoying some time with Kanaan and your son?"
"I wanted to make sure that you are alright, I know how much you adore Torren and I know how much he loves you, but…."
"Kanaan is his father, so he deserves a chance to get to know him." John interrupted finishing the sentence for her.
"Yes John, he does."
He took a deep breath and put a smile on his face again before speaking to her in a matter-of-fact tone, "I agree with you so maybe it's time for you to go and spend some time with Kanaan, you haven't seen him in six months, and I am sure that you must have missed him."
He thought he saw a glimmer of sadness cross her face, but then in a split second, it was over.
"Will you be coming to join us for lunch?"
"I'm just going for a walk Teyla so I will see you later."
He took one last look at her, turned, and walked in the direction of the jumper. He wondered if he should just go back to Atlantis and hide in his quarters for the next twenty years or so. But then he knew that was stupid because he was the military commander of Atlantis and he needed to get a grip. For reasons that he couldn't even begin to understand Teyla had decided to be with Kanaan, and he just needed to get over it.
Thinking back to when he'd found out that Teyla was pregnant, he remembered what a jerk he'd been about it, and he was determined not to act like one now.
Feeling much better he decided to proceed with his walk, it was a lovely day so he may as well go and see what Ronon was up to because it certainly had to be better than hanging out with Kanaan and Teyla, although hanging out with T.J was always fun. But then he thought about what Teyla had said and that was that Torren deserved to spend some time with his father, so he was determined to leave them to it.
He walked for around half an hour, and he found no sign of Ronon so he wondered whether he should go back and join the others for lunch or whether he should just keep on going. In the end, he decided that he would walk for a bit longer because he wasn't sure he was ready to face Kanaan and Teyla just yet.
Twenty minutes later he came across Ronon sitting by a campfire by himself and he was roasting some meat. He wondered why he was here and not sharing lunch with the Athosians.
He slowly approached him and sat down on the log beside his friend, "Hey, Ronon, why are you sitting here by yourself?"
"Sorry Sheppard, but the last thing I needed to see today was Teyla reunited with Kanaan, so I thought if I stayed away long enough, you'd come looking for me."
"Really," he said, and it was more of a statement than anything else, "why?"
"Because the more I know about Kanaan, the more I dislike him and believe that there's someone better out there for her."
"You'll get no argument from me Chewie, but you do realise that we are supposed to be re-establishing contact with the Athosians don't you?"
"Yeah, I know, but I think that Teyla can handle it. So why don't we have lunch and then we can head back, and you can pick Teyla up before heading back to Atlantis?"
"What do you mean I can pick Teyla up and head back to Atlantis?" He asked feeling confused.
"I've been invited to stay and go hunting with one of the Athosian hunting parties, so I've accepted and this way I can keep an eye on Torren if he stays with Kanaan as well."
That was probably the best idea he'd heard all day because at least Torren would have a familiar face nearby if he was scared or missing his mom. He secretly hoped that T.J would miss him if he were absent from his life as well.
"That sounds like a plan Chewie, so how about you give me some of that meat because I'm starving."
He sat and watched with his mouth watering, as Ronon handed him a piece of meat on a stick. Blowing on it to try and cool it down, he tried to imagine what life would have been like for Ronon when he was a runner, "did you have time to cook a lot of food when you were a runner?"
"I didn't cook every night or anything like that, but every so often I'd manage to catch and cook something," Ronon looked down at his food before continuing, "so how come you never made a move on Teyla?"
Wow! He thought. Straight to the point.
He really wasn't that comfortable talking about his feelings, so he shut the conversation down before it had a chance to begin and besides there was no way he was going to make a move on another man's girl, even if he was in another galaxy, "you know what Ronon, I don't even want to talk about it so can we please talk about something else?"
"So is there anyone on Atlantis that you're actually interested in Sheppard? I mean I have Amelia, Rodney has Doc Keller and Teyla has, Kanaan; unfortunately," he muttered the word unfortunately under his breath and if he hadn't been listening intently, John would have missed it, "so, in reality, you're the only one who doesn't have a partner."
He was actually well aware of that, and it had been playing on his mind ever since Ronon and Amelia had gotten together, "thanks for reminding me of that big guy. I mean if you hadn't have reminded me, I would have forgotten," he said sarcastically.
"Sorry," Ronon muttered and started eating his meal again.
He began to eat his food again and was happy that Ronon didn't pursue the conversation further as he had a whole heap of regrets in the area of romance, but there was no way he wanted to discuss that with Ronon around a campfire when Teyla was off playing happy families somewhere nearby.
After about twenty minutes of silence, Ronon stood up and started to put the fire out, "hey Sheppard, maybe we should get back to the settlement and see what's happening?"
He looked up from the tuft of grass that he'd been staring at for the last ten minutes, "yeah sure, I suppose I had better get back and talk to Halling to find out what has been happening while we have been on earth."
"As I said, I'm sure Teyla is busy playing diplomat at the same time she's playing happy families."
"Alright, alright I get your point, so let's get going so that I can get back to Atlantis and do something useful?!" He was feeling totally frustrated and angry by the fact that he had to be on New Athos in the first place. Why couldn't Teyla have come by herself, this was a diplomatic mission after all?
He stormed off ahead of Ronon and he assumed that Ronon was following him. He had no idea how long it took him to reach the settlement, but he was surprised at how quickly he arrived there.
Looking around for signs of the Athosians it didn't take him long to realise that other than Kanaan and Teyla, who were sitting in the middle of the settlement by a fire, there was no one else around.
Walking up to them with his head held high, he decided that it was time for them to go as Woolsey was expecting them home half an hour ago.
"Teyla are you ready to leave?" He asked without emotion.
"Yes, I was just saying goodbye to Kanaan. I have already said my goodbyes to Torren, and he appears to understand that he will be staying with his father for a few days."
He stood with a neutral expression on his face while Kanaan gave Teyla a chaste kiss on the lips and although the expression on his face was blank, his fists were curled into tight balls by his side.
"I am ready to go now John and in case you are wondering I have already spoken to Halling about what is happening in the Pegasus galaxy."
That was a relief as there is no way he wanted to stay here a minute longer. He had no idea why he felt so agitated today because despite what he may think, Ronon was right he'd had six months to make a move on Teyla.
"Do you need to say goodbye to anyone else Teyla?"
She smiled sweetly at him, and he could sense that she wasn't happy with him as she always smiled at him like that when she was angry "no John we may go when you are ready."
"I hope that you are going to say goodbye to me before you go?" Ronon asked coming up alongside her.
"I will see you in two days Ronon," Teyla said bowing her head towards him and he was annoyed that Ronon got a genuine smile.
He nodded at Ronon, and they walked off in silence, it was obvious that she was in a bad mood with him for some reason and he had no idea why, but if he was a guessing man, he'd have to say it had something to do with his absence for the entire afternoon.
When they arrived in the jumper, he immediately went to the pilot's seat and closed the back hatch. Once Teyla was seated beside him, he took off and turned the jumper towards the gate and he was glad that the afternoon was over, and he was going home.
Five minutes later the jumper exited the wormhole and John was surprised that they'd ended up in space, but what was worse was there seemed to be a round patch of space without any stars. He had no idea what was going on as they were supposed to end up on Atlantis, but he knew that he needed to head back through the gate as quickly as possible.
"John, what is going on?" Teyla asked with her eyes open wide.
"I haven't got a clue Teyla but I'm going to guess that it has something to do with that big black anomaly that we're being pulled towards."
He didn't miss the look of fear that crossed her face as she replied to him, "John can you turn the jumper around and head back through the gate. Perhaps you can try dialling Atlantis from here?"
"I'm sure as hell trying Teyla, but whatever that thing is it has a huge gravitational pull on it."
He certainly felt the pull of whatever it was because his head was beginning to hurt. It was almost as if his head were being stretched in two different directions and looking at Teyla he could see that she was in pain as well.
"Teyla I'm not sure we're going to get out of this one, so you're just going to have to hang on and hope that wherever we end up it's a friendly place."
That's if we don't end up dead, he thought not wanting to tell Teyla what the possible outcome could be. The pull of the anomaly was intense, and he had no idea whether the jumper would survive the extreme stresses that the gravitational pull was putting on it. But then the jumpers travelled through wormholes so perhaps it would survive, the only question was would they.
He tried one last time to think the jumper away from the anomaly, but instantly a stabbing pain shot through his head and at that moment he knew that there was no way out and they were going in.
"Brace yourself, we're going in!" He yelled at Teyla before grabbing hold of the console himself.
The pain in his head was intensifying and he had no idea how long he was going to be able to cope. Just when he was thought his head was going to split in two, he felt the darkness encroaching on him and he was more than happy to let it take him.
TBC…
I hope you enjoyed it please let me know what you think.