Warning Character death, so you may need your tissues.
Chapter 7: A tearful reunion.
Torren John Emmagan-Sheppard looked at the body in front of him with sadness, the man who had helped raise him was gone and he didn't know what he was going to do without Dr Rodney McKay. He had inspired him to pursue a career in science and thanks to him he had met his wife of twenty years. Torren was a father of two teenage girls, who were both on earth studying. One was studying medicine and the other was studying astrophysics. His life couldn't have turned out better except for one thing, his parents had disappeared when he was eighteen months old and that was the moment when his whole life had changed. He often wondered what would have happened if they had been there to raise him and if he could find a way to go back in time and change history he would. He had taken his father and mothers' surnames as a way to honour their memory. He took his mothers name according to Athosian tradition and his father's according to Earths. He knew that John Sheppard wasn't his biological father, but he was the man who had helped raise him for the first eighteen months of his life.
His planet New Athos had been culled a year after his parents had gone missing when he was on a visit to spend time with Kanaan, his biological father. Torren had escaped to some caves to hide until the culling was over. At least he had some of his favourite Uncles hiding with him and when it was over his whole world was shattered again. Most of his friends along with Kanaan were culled in that event and he knew there was no way he would ever see them again and that had lead to bouts of depression throughout his childhood. Not only had his parents disappeared but Kanaan was gone, along with the council for his people. His two uncles had taken him back to Atlantis where they had tried to look after him. Uncle Rodney had taught him about science and Uncle Ronon had taught him about fighting and how to survive in the wild. Although the Athosians would have taught him all about living in the wilderness had they still been alive. Halling and Jinto and a few others had survived, but no one felt as if they could look after him at the time, which was unusual for the Athosians as they had always looked after their own in the past.
Then there was Aunty Jennifer who had taught him all about medicine, looking after people, and healing them. She'd ended up marrying Uncle Rodney and they'd had two children together and now Rodney and Jennifer were grandparents.
Uncle Carson had spent many hours with him during his childhood, taking him fishing and telling him all about his home country of Scotland, until the Doctor had been recalled back to earth where he had lived until he had passed away three years ago.
Uncle Ronon had married his Aunt Amelia and they had gone to live on New Sateda as Uncle Ronon had been offered a position as the leader of the military there. New Sateda was a thriving planet again and it had been for the last thirty years. Uncle Ronon had retired ten years ago, but he still lived on New Sateda along with Aunt Amelia. They also had two children who were living on earth with their own families. Torren didn't see any of his family much these days, but he knew that he would be contacting them soon to ask them to attend Uncle Rodney's funeral.
Uncle Rodney was ninety years old when he'd died and fortunately, he had died of old age. Dr Maddie Miller had brought him to the infirmary two days ago. Maddie was Uncle Rodney's Niece and Maddie was also Torren's wife.
He had met Maddie thirty years ago when he was studying on earth and although they had remained friends they hadn't gotten together until ten years later and they had been together ever since. She was the love of his life and he couldn't imagine living life without her, which made him wonder how Aunt Jenn was going to survive without Uncle Rodney.
He and Maddie had been married on Atlantis by Mr Woolsey a year before Woolsey had died in a wraith attack on Atlantis. Luckily there had been very few people culled on that occasion.
Atlantis had been attacked often over the last forty years or so and many of its inhabitants had gone back to earth, but many people from the culled worlds of the Pegasus galaxy had come to live and work there.
The Wraith were still out there, but they had entered a period of hibernation around ten years ago so for the moment the populations of the Pegasus galaxy were recovering and rebuilding their numbers and they figured that they would have at least another hundred years until the Wraith woke up again.
He had transferred to the Daedalus along with Uncle Rodney, Aunt Jennifer, Maddie, and their children ten years ago. Caldwell and his team had retired years ago. Now Uncle Rodney and Aunt Jennifer's son was the captain of the ship, and they were heading toward a region of space where the captain had seen something that shouldn't be in this area of space.
Apparently, the Captain had spotted a puddle jumper, and it was flying towards them at an incredible speed. He wondered who it would be and how they had got out this far because there were no stargates in this system and Atlantis would have to be at least one hundred light-years away. So, there was no way a jumper could fly that far. Unless someone had installed a hyperdrive in the jumper and he knew that was impossible because there was only one man who was capable of doing that and he had just passed away. Although Torren liked to think that he could do it if he had the opportunity.
Sighing he looked down at his Uncle Rodney one last time and after placing a sheet over him he headed to the bridge to see who was on duty. He knew that he needed to work right now to take his mind off what had just happened.
Very soon he would have to contact his family and let them know of Uncle Rodney's passing, but for now, he needed to know what Captain McKay had seen. A few minutes later, he arrived on the bridge and sat beside the commanderJack O'Neill, who was named after his grandfather General Jack O'Neill. Jack was a very tall man and as thin as a rake, he had dark brown eyes and his once brown hair was turning grey. Torren didn't know how old he was exactly, but he assumed that he was a few years older than him. The General had died years ago, but Jack's mother Samantha Carter still lived on earth.
Stargate command had changed over the last fifty years, and you no longer had to be in the air force to command a ship from the fleet of starships that Earth had developed over the last twenty years. He looked out of the window to see if he could see what the captain had seen a few days ago. Captain McKay was currently off duty and in the infirmary with his mother saying their final goodbyes to Rodney, so he had decided to leave them to it, while he took a duty shift on the bridge.
"Hey Jack, any sign of the puddle jumper that Captain McKay saw a few days ago?"
Jack turned to look at him and smiled, "Oh, hey Torren, we lost that signal twelve hours ago and now there appears to be a Satedan Ship speeding towards us, we should be in range of them in a few hours."
"Do you think it's Ronon and Amelia?"
"It's possible since they are due for a visit sometime soon."
"Great I guess we'll keep an eye on it, anything else of interest?"
"Todd wants to catch up with us; he says that he has some information about the planet near the anomaly with the strange radiation. Apparently, he wants to discuss it with you and Dr McKay."
He took a deep breath as Todd was the last person he wanted to deal with right now, but if Todd had something to share, he may as well listen to it, "Yeah well, tell him to come aboard when he's ready and I will discuss it with him."
Todd had been useful over the years and for some reason he seemed to be very protective of him. He could only surmise that it had something to do with the fact that Todd was friends with John Sheppard before he went missing. When he had asked Todd about it the big wraith had told him that he owed John Sheppard his life and he would do whatever he could to protect his son. He had also mentioned something about his mother being his queen. That had to be the weirdest thing he'd ever heard so he had never asked him about it again.
A hand on his shoulder startled him and he almost jumped, looking up he saw that Jack was looking down at him, "how are you doing Torren?"
"I'm alright, but Maddie seems pretty upset. She wants to be left alone for a while, so I'll go and check on her in a few hours."
"You're welcome to stay here until then, although Todd could turn up at any moment, you know what he's like."
"Thanks, Jack."
Torren lay back in his chair and stared out the window, it seemed to be a quiet day on the bridge, which he was happy about because the last thing anyone needed right now was drama. Other than Rodney's death things had been fairly quiet over the last few weeks anyway. Things were so quiet that he thought that it wouldn't hurt him to close his eyes for a minute or two, but it wasn't long before he fell into a deep sleep.
When he awoke again, he heard voices on the bridge, one of them was definitely the commander and the other one sounded like a wraith and there was only one wraith he knew that would be on an earth ship, so he immediately opened his eyes.
"Torren Sheppard, I was beginning to wonder if you were going to sleep all day," Todd hissed showing his crooked yellow teeth.
"Sorry but it's been a difficult day, now what can I do for you?"
"Yes, I heard about Dr McKay, my condolences. Can we talk in the captain's office?"
He looked over at Jack and the commander nodded his head before consenting to the request, "alright Todd, you have five minutes to tell me what you want and then I shall go and check on my wife."
"How is your lovely wife?"
"How do you think she is, her mother and father died last year and now she's lost her favourite Uncle as well?"
"I'm sorry if I upset you Torren, but I still do not understand human emotion and sentimentality, but maybe I never will."
"Let's go and have our conversation shall we, the sooner the better?" Torren suggested feeling agitated.
He walked across the captain's ready room, and he assumed that Todd was following. What he wouldn't give to have Ronon there right now because the Satedan was one of the few people who really knew how to deal with Todd.
Once they had entered the room, he closed the door and sat behind the captain's desk and looked at Todd wondering whether the wraith was going to tell him the truth today, "what is it you want to tell me about the radiation on that strange planet with the anomaly?"
"I believe that there is ancient technology on that planet, possibly even a ZPM or two".
"And how do you know this, Todd?"
"My queen's hive has detected it and she suspects that if there is ancient technology on the planet that there may be people. At the moment she doesn't seem that interested, but I do not doubt that if she tells others about it someone soon will be."
"You said you had some information about the radiation!" Torren stated, with impatience in his voice.
"Yes, apparently it seems to have healing properties, so perhaps we could find a way to harness it for that purpose?" Todd suggested with a crooked grin that showed his yellow teeth.
"That's if we don't get sucked into the anomaly first. You and I both know that many ships have been lost in the anomaly, both Wraith and human alike."
"I know but I have been doing some calculations with some of my Wraith scientists and I am close to finding a way for us to land on the planet."
Torren was really becoming annoyed by this point, as Todd hadn't really told him anything he didn't know already. His Uncle Rodney had already figured out that the radiation was useful and there was possibly ancient technology on the planet before he died. The only thing he hadn't figured out was a way to land on the planet, "well, when you find a way, let me know and I will come and check it out with you, until then I am going to see my wife!"
"I certainly will, but for now I think I will stay aboard your ship and talk to Commander O'Neill for a while, that's if you don't mind?"
"No go right ahead," Torren stated, before pushing past him and leaving the ready room.
He looked at Jack and spoke to him before heading for the doors leading off the bridge, "Todd wants to hang with you for a while. I hope you don't mind?"
When Jack nodded, he left the bridge and headed straight to his quarters, he had no idea how long he'd been asleep, but one thing he knew for sure was that his wife and aunt probably needed him right now.
They were en route to Atlantis but were still a few days out so they knew that they couldn't lay Uncle Rodney to rest until then. His Uncle's final wishes were that his ashes be scattered in the ocean around his beloved city. The thought of Atlantis and its towering glass spires, and its beautiful blue ocean brought tears to his eyes because it reminded him that he had never had a chance to lay his mother and father to rest in the magnificent city of the ancestors. It was his father's home, so he definitely should have been laid to rest there and he knew that his mother would have wanted to be laid to rest next to the love of her life. But closure never came as his parent's bodies were never recovered and now, he knew that they never would be. On more than one occasion, his Uncle Ronon had told him how much they had loved each other even though they never officially got together. Although they weren't together at the time they went missing he had always hoped that wherever they ended up they'd had a chance to be together.
His thoughts were interrupted before he had a chance to reach his quarters when his com activated. He tapped his arm where the communications device had been implanted, "Torren here."
He was surprised to find that it was Todd wanting to speak to him, "what can I do for you Todd," he answered impatiently. He had no idea what the Wraith wanted, and he really didn't care because all he wanted to do was see his Wife and Aunt.
"There is something you need to see so I think you should come to the bridge straight away?"
He was about the hang up on the Wraith when he heard Commander O'Neill's voice, "I'd hate to have to agree with the Wraith, but you really need to come and see this?"
Sighing he cut the connection and went back to the bridge wondering what could be so important as to keep him from his wife yet again. He knew that she wouldn't worry as she had told him that she needed to be alone right now and she would contact him if she needed anything, but he was worried about her and needed to see her just to make sure that she was alright.
When he walked on the bridge a few minutes later he got the shock of his life when he saw the cockpit of Ronon and Amelia's spaceship on the view screen. Seeing Ronon's ship wasn't uncommon, but the thing that took him by surprise was the person sitting next to Ronon.
"Mom," he whispered not quite believing his eyes. She looked the same as she had fifty years ago at least the way she'd looked in photos.
The look on his mother's face could only be described as a mixture of happiness and sadness, and when she spoke, he could hear it in her voice as well, "Torren, it is so good to see you again, even though you are all grown up."
All he could do was stand and stare at the woman who had disappeared fifty years ago, of course, he wondered if John Sheppard was with her, but his mouth just wouldn't open.
Luckily for him, Todd decided to speak at that moment, "Teyla, my queen, you look as beautiful as you did the last time I saw you. Is John Sheppard with you?"
Torren didn't miss the glare that Ronon gave the Wraith before he spoke in an angry voice, "Todd, Teyla is not your queen, and she has never been your queen and yes John Sheppard is aboard my ship, and he is extremely ill as is my other friend Sheppard. I also have two children on my ship along with Amelia so can someone let us dock so that we can get John and Sheppard to the infirmary. It would be great if you can have the doctors standing by as well."
Finally, he found his voice, he knew that he needed to inform Ronon what had happened to Rodney and right now, Maddie and Jennifer were grieving his loss, "Ronon, Uncle Rodney passed away earlier this morning so Aunt Jennifer and Maddie are extremely upset right now, but I will tell them that they are needed in the infirmary. Dock your ship and I will make sure I have some medical personnel standing by."
A look of sadness crossed Teyla's face and Torren had no idea what to say to his mother who he hadn't seen for fifty years. Apparently, his father was with them as well but was extremely unwell. He sure hoped that between his aunt and wife they could do something to help him and who was this man Sheppard, Ronon was talking about?
"McKay's dead, what happened?" Ronon asked, with sorrow in his voice.
"He just died of old age; he was almost ninety-one after all."
Ronon merely nodded at him and set about piloting the craft to the back of the Daedalus, "I'll meet you in the cargo bay Torren."
Once Ronon's ship was gone, he looked around the bridge and realised that he had been left alone. He suspected that the commander was in the ready room so he knocked on the door to let him know that he could come out and take command of the bridge again. It only took a minute for him to come out with Todd following him.
"Jack, I'm going to the Cargo Bay to see my mom and then I'll head to the infirmary."
"I will come with you," Todd suggested and the thought of Todd being there when he saw his mom again freaked him out a little.
"No, how about you stay here, and I'll let you know when you can see Mom and Dad?" He took a deep breath before continuing, "until I see them myself, I'm not sure I'll believe it."
He was relieved when Todd nodded his head and a little repulsed when he smiled his crooked grin showing him his yellow teeth. He knew that he had seen Todd smile a million times, but it was something that he had never liked about the Wraith.
Walking off the bridge he tapped his forearm to activate his com device, "Torren to Maddie, come in please?"
"What is it Torren?" She asked and he knew by the sound of her voice that she had been crying.
He really had no idea what to say, so he just opened his mouth and hoped that he could convey to her what was happening, "Ronon is about to dock, and he has my mother and father on board. Apparently, my father is ill, along with another man. Don't ask me what is going on because I have no idea?"
For a minute there was silence on the other end, and he thought that Maddie had hung up, "Okay, I'm on my way to the infirmary, I'll have Aunt Jenn meet you in the cargo hold with a medical team. Maddie out."
By the time he had finished speaking with Maddie, he realised that he was at the cargo bay and Ronon's ship had already docked. The back hatch was still locked so he stood and waited with anticipation, it was great that he was going to see his mother again, but he was incredibly worried about his father and he was still curious about this stranger they had somehow managed to pick up. Where did he come from and what was wrong with him and was his father suffering from the same condition?
Finally, the back hatch opened, and Amelia came out with two children who looked to be about ten earth years. He opened his mouth to say something, and Amelia just hugged him and kissed him on the cheek, "I'll explain later, but right now I'm going to take the children to guest quarters and then I'll take them to the infirmary to wait for news on their father."
Watching her walk away he thought that the children looked a lot like his mother and father. Had his parents had kids at some point in the last fifty years? That thought was too difficult for him to contemplate right now so her turned back to the jumper to wait for him Mom and Dad to make an appearance.
A medical team arrived with two gurneys and Dr Keller-McKay before the rest of the occupants of the ship made an appearance.
He looked at his Aunt Jenn and he could see that she had been crying as her face was red and puffy and her hazel eyes had lost their usual spark. Age had been kind to her even though her once blonde hair was now streaked with grey and there were a few more lines around her hair and face.
"How are you feeling Aunt Jenn?" He asked her with concern, "shouldn't you be resting?"
"I think I need to work right now Torren and if John and Teyla have reappeared I really need to see them. I just wish that Rodney were alive to see it."
"I know I wish he were here too, but if it is my mom and Dad, I really hope that we can find a way to send them back in time so that I have a chance to grow up with them. I know that it won't be me because this will become an alternate reality, but at least another Torren will get to grow up with his parents. And then maybe they can stop New Athos from being culled as well."
She smiled at him as she answered, "you realise you sound a lot like your uncle when you talk like that?"
"He taught me everything I know and I'm going to miss him too."
Before they had a chance to continue Ronon came out of the jumper carrying someone, Torren took a closer look and was surprised to see that it was his father, but he looked fifteen to twenty years older. Taking stock of his condition, he didn't like what he saw, the man's left arm was crooked, and it looked as if it had been broken at some point and it hadn't been healed properly. There was sweat beading on his brow, he was unconscious and judging by the pain lines around his eyes he was in considerable pain.
"Is that Dad?" He asked with apprehension.
"It is and it isn't. It's a long story and I'll tell you later, but first, we need to get Sheppard and your father to the infirmary." Ronon told him placing Sheppard on the gurney.
He looked back at the ship and was shocked to see his mother coming out supporting his father and they looked exactly as they did when they had disappeared.
Her hair was the same chestnut brown as his, and her eyes were a deep brown just like his. Her skin was the same bronze colour as his, in fact, other than his hair that stuck up all over the place – which was more like John Sheppard's – he was the splitting image of her. Although he was definitely taller than his petite mother.
"Mom, is that Dad?" He whispered.
"Yes, it is sweetheart and right now I need to get him to the infirmary."
A gurney was placed beside her, and Torren helped his mother settle John on the gurney.
He watched as his Aunt Jenn approached his mom, "Teyla it is good to see you again and I know that you and Torren have a lot of catching up to do, but can you tell me what his injuries are."
"Dr Keller, it is good to see you and I am sorry for your loss."
Jennifer spoke softly to his mother again, "thanks Teyla, but I really need you to tell me what John's symptoms are?"
"Umm… he broke his arm in a jumper crash and it was infected for a day or two, but thanks to the herbs on the planet we crashed on, it was cleared up quickly. The only problem is that when we left the planet signs of infection began to surface again."
A moan from the gurney caught their attention, "doc Keller, is that you?"
"Yes John, and I'm taking you to the infirmary now so don't worry, I'll have you fixed up in no time."
"Thanks…" John mumbled before losing consciousness again.
"I have to get him to the infirmary now," Jennifer stated in a matter-of-fact tone.
Torren nodded and took his mother's hand, "Come on Mom, I'll take you to the infirmary."
"Thank you, Torren," Teyla said, and he was surprised when she threw her arms around him and began to sob.
He just stood and hugged her and let her sob, in fact, he almost felt like crying himself. He hadn't seen her in fifty years, and he was only eighteen months old when she was taken from him so he barely remembered her, but the one thing he remembered was her smell and right now she smelt as wonderful as she ever did.
After about five minutes she looked up at him and touched his face with her hand and it brought back memories of her touch.
"Mom I can't believe you are back. You can tell me everything that has happened to you later, but right now I'll walk you to the infirmary."
She nodded at him and grabbed his hand and together they walked off towards the infirmary.
He had no idea what had gone on for the last fifty years but right now he didn't care as his mother and father were back.
TBC…