Chapter 20: Home at last.
The next few weeks were uneventful for John. After the night he'd spoken with Arastica he spent another week in the infirmary and by the end of it, he was bored out of his brain. Charin had spent plenty of time with him telling stories of her childhood and the good times that she had spent with her father. Dave had joined her on a few occasions and told a few stories as well. Torren and Todd had come and gone giving him updates on their research. Maddie had come and gone in an official capacity, but there were times that she just sat with him as a friend – or his daughter in law, he wasn't sure which. Teyla had been by his beside the most and every time he'd awoken, she had been there for him, and he couldn't wait to get back home and spend the rest of his life with her. As he wanted to marry her as soon as possible, but he knew that would have to wait for a while.
As he became stronger and his mind had become clearer, he began to remember some of the things that he had said while going through the withdrawal and the thing that had horrified him the most was when he had told Teyla that he hated her. It had brought tears to his eyes when he'd apologised to her, but Teyla had been her usual gracious self and forgiven him for it. Even though Teyla had forgiven him for it, he still felt the need to apologise on another three occasions.
When Maddie had finally let him out of the infirmary, she had sent him to quarters to rest for another two days and what was worse, was that she'd made Teyla keep an eye on him – although it could have been worse, she could have kept an eye on him herself. Finally, two days ago, he had been able to start running and he had spent many an hour over the last couple of days exploring Arastica. At times Charin had come with him and showed him some of her favourite hiding spots in the city and he could see that she was going to have a wonderful life with Torren and Maddie.
Now he was sitting in Torren's lab along with Teyla, where they had been summoned thirty minutes ago – the only problem was Torren or Todd were nowhere in sight. Looking around the lab he wondered how Torren could ever hope to find anything in it because there were papers and technology scattered everywhere – much like Rodney's lab was on occasion.
He was beginning to become annoyed when Torren walked into the lab, "about time you got here," he grumbled.
"I had a brilliant idea about fixing the gate, so I had to check that out before our meeting."
Again, Torren sounded just like Rodney McKay and again he found himself not liking it, but then maybe if he went back in time and raised Torren, he wouldn't grow up to be as arrogant as this Torren was at times.
"And did it work Torren," Teyla asked gently?
It wasn't exactly the tone he would have used had he asked the question, but then Teyla always knew how to placate Rodney and when she did, she used the same soothing tone.
"I'm positive that it will work, and the gate will be up and running in no time and then I will be able to contact Atlantis and have them send through a team of scientists to help repair this beautiful city. Then if we can get the star-drive up and running perhaps we can move her."
John wasn't interested in what Torren was going to do in the future because all he cared about was getting home. As he'd had enough time in this time period, "that's great Torren, but have you found a way for your mother and me to get home?"
"As a matter of fact, I have," Torren said smugly. "I am convinced that my calculations should be complete within the next two days and then I should be able to send you back to the moment you left New Athos."
He had a sneaking suspicion that wasn't the only reason he'd called them to the lab, but before he had a chance to say anything Teyla asked Torren the question, he had wanted to ask.
"Is that the only reason you called us to your lab?"
"No, it's not Mom, I also wanted to tell you that I have found a cure for the bacteria in the database, so with Maddie's help, we can synthesise it and have it on hand in case anyone else gets infected with it. My research has also confirmed that the radiation in the atmosphere slows it down significantly."
"That is exactly the same conclusion that I came to three days ago," Todd hissed.
John had heard enough, all he really needed to know was when he could go home and according to Torren it would be another two days, so he may as well enjoy himself while he was here, "right, I'll leave the two of you in the lab, to do whatever it is that you're doing. I am going to take Teyla and the children on a picnic to explore the new island I discovered the other day."
Grabbing Teyla's hand he quickly exited the room and headed to Charin's favourite hiding spot. He suspected that she would be there because she had set up an area where she could read her books or play with some of her toys.
When they arrived a few minutes later, he was delighted that she was there. She seemed engrossed playing with some small dolls and a pusher that had been carved out of wood. Not wanting to startle her he spoke to her gently, "Hey Charlie."
She immediately looked up and a smile spread across her face, "hey John, hey Teyla, what are you up to?"
"Well, Teyla and I were going to have a picnic on the new island I discovered the other day and we wondered if you and your brother would like to come along with us?"
"No thanks, John, I'm going to help Maddie in the infirmary and then she's going to give me a biology lesson."
He was happy that she had taken to Maddie so quickly and thrilled that she wanted to spend time with the doctor.
"And what about Dave?"
"I'm fairly sure that he's going to help Torren and Todd today, but thanks for asking John."
"Okay have fun and I'll catch you later," John told her before grabbing Teyla's hand and leaving the room.
"Well Sweetie, it looks like it's just you and I today so let's go and enjoy ourselves before we head home in a couple of days."
"You will get no arguments from me, Honey."
oOo
John was relieved to be out of the city again and he was confident that they weren't likely to run into any wraith. Todd had told him a week ago that he had been around the planet several times and managed to eliminate the few remaining wraith on the planet.
The thing that was even better was that Teyla was with him this time and he hoped that they could have some quality time alone before they headed home. They had been together for the three and a half weeks that they had been in this time period, but when they got back no one would realise that they were together. If they went back to the exact time they had left, Teyla would have just broken up with Kanaan – so things were complicated.
Coming back to the present, he concentrated on where they were going and he began by flying the jumper over the large grassland where Sheppard's jumper had crashed and over to the left, he spied the jumper that he and Teyla had crashed in. Continuing on he flew over the cabin and the gardens and sheds behind it. He then flew over the woods, then he flew over the river, the cascading waterfall, and the bridge across the river. This was the same route he flew a couple of weeks ago when he had discovered the downed Wraith dart. This time there was nothing to do but enjoy the view and with Teyla by his side, things were pretty close to perfect.
He came to the spot where he had almost turned back two weeks ago and he very quickly spied the island that he had discovered in the distance, so he flew over the ocean which was the most vibrant shade of blue that he had seen in a while and with the land in the distance, the view was exquisite, in fact, if he'd had a camera with him, he would have taken a photo or two.
A few minutes later he landed in the large field that was full of colourful flowers and he took the time to enjoy the view of the mountains in the distance.
Once he had landed, he very quickly opened the back hatch and grabbed the picnic rug and basket of food that he had brought with him. He had every intention of making the afternoon a memorable one.
Walking through the tall grasses he shuddered when he remembered what had taken place two weeks before and what it had led to, so when Teyla came up beside him and held his hand he felt much better.
"This is a beautiful place John, and I am glad that you brought me here," Teyla told him with one of her gorgeous smiles.
"I agree, so where would you like to set up the picnic Sweetie, we can sit facing the ocean or we can sit facing the mountains. Mind you I don't think I'll be sitting up for long because, at some point, I'm convinced that I'm going to go back to sleep again.
"I believe that I would like to sit facing the ocean because it is such an amazing shade of blue and it reminds me of Atlantis."
"I couldn't agree more Sweetie," he told her while spreading the picnic blanket out in front of them.
A few minutes later they were sitting on the blanket together and unpacking the basket that he had prepared for them. He'd spent some time that morning – with Charin's help – making sandwiches for everyone and Charin had even made a batch of cookies. They had found some cooking facilities on Arastica, but most days Charin seemed to prefer to go back to the cabin to cook and Maddie or Teyla went with her. They were still using the gardens behind the cabin to provide fruits, vegetables, and grains after all. Dave still went hunting most days and Torren or Charin went with him.
"Honey, what have you brought us to eat?" Teyla asked interrupting his thoughts.
"There are meat sandwiches made with the meat that looks and tastes like chicken, there are cookies that Charin made and there's plenty of water to drink."
"That sounds wonderful Honey, so how about you give me a sandwich so that I can eat and when we have finished eating there is something that I wish to discuss with you."
Sighing he passed her a sandwich, if she wanted to talk to him, it was something important and he was convinced that he wasn't going to like it – especially if it involved him having to talk about his feelings.
They sat eating in silence and John felt a little apprehensive during the whole time. Although he was trying to enjoy the magnificent view of the ocean, he was still worried about what she had to say – he sure hoped that she wasn't breaking up with him. What am I fifteen he thought, why would Teyla want to end this relationship? That sounded much more mature than the phrase breaking up with me.
A few minutes later, when he was only halfway through his first sandwich, Teyla spoke gently to him, "John we need to talk about our relationship."
And there it was, she was about to break up with him, he certainly shouldn't be surprised though because he always sucked at relationships. "I'm listening," he replied.
"I do not think that we should announce our relationship as soon as we get back since we will be arriving back on New Athos on the day Kanaan and I parted ways."
He really should have expected that was what she wanted to talk about, and it made perfect sense, but he didn't want to stop being with her.
"So, what do you suggest, that we go back home and forget that this never happened?" He asked trying to remain calm.
"I do not know what to say, John, I cannot and will not forget this, but even if we tell people what has happened do you think that they will believe us?"
"Rodney will and I'm sure if we told Woolsey and Ronon they would keep an open mind, so perhaps we talk to them when we get back to Atlantis and then we can tell them about us."
"But what about Kanaan, he will never believe any of this?"
He should have known that she would still be worried about Kanaan, they'd had a child together and she was connected to him through that child, "well I don't know what to say Teyla, we can keep it a secret for a while, but I can't ignore what has happened between us forever."
"Perhaps I will talk to Kanaan when we get back to New Athos."
That was a relief because Kanaan had to know at some point and the sooner the better, but he still had another question that he needed to ask Teyla, "do you intend to take Torren home with us, or do you intend to leave him with Kanaan for a few days?"
"I would still like Torren to spend time with Kanaan, but I have spent too much time away from my baby, so I have every intention of taking Torren back to Atlantis with us."
"And will I be able to spend some time with him, I mean if we are going to go to separate quarters when we get back? I won't be able to spend as much time with him as I like."
"I do not know what to say John except perhaps we should get home first and then see what happens."
"You're probably right, so for now I think I'd like to forget all about it and have another nap," he suggested laying back on the blanket and closing his eyes.
"I think I will join you; the sunshine is warm, and it seems to be making me sleepy."
She lay down and put her hand across his chest and for the moment he felt content. Whatever happened when they got back home, they would deal with it then, so for now all he had to do was enjoy himself – right now he wanted to go back to sleep and that's exactly what he did.
When he awoke again the primary sun was low on the horizon, but thankfully the evening was warm as the secondary sun was still high in the sky. It didn't take long for him to realise that Teyla wasn't beside him and he began to panic until he heard her calling his name.
"John, you need to come and see what I have found!" She exclaimed.
He was intrigued by what she had found, but he also knew that they should head back to Arastica as the others would begin to worry if they weren't back before dark.
"What have you found Sweetie?" He asked standing to his feet and looking around to try and find her. When he couldn't see her, he started to walk in the direction of a small hill. "Where are you Teyla, I can't see you?"
"I am on the other side of the hill that you are walking towards."
It didn't take long for him to reach her and when he did, he could see what she was so excited about. There were two sheep-like animals grazing in the field and beside them were two lambs and it was the most delightful thing that he had seen on Sheppard's planet.
As he looked farther into the distance, he noticed that a few deer were frolicking in the nearby woods. In the three weeks that they had been on Sheppard's planet, he hadn't seen any of these animals on the mainland, so it made him wonder whether they were hiding. Although it could be due to the fact that he had spent a lot of that time either unconscious or on Arastica.
He wondered if they could find this planet in the past and explore it and maybe they could find Arastica and get it operational? Had the Wraith already infected Arastica's systems in his time period, or would it be in much better condition than he had found it in this time? These were all good questions, and he would try to get the coordinates from Torren before he went home.
His mind came back to the present when Teyla grabbed his hand and spoke to him, "Honey, I believe that we should go back to Arastica now."
"No, I don't think so. I would like to stay in the cabin tonight, just you and me. In fact, I'd like to stay there until it's time for us to go home, because when we get home who knows how long it will be before we can spend a night together."
"I would like that Honey, so shall we get going?"
"I'll just let Torren know what's going on, he said tapping his comm device, "Sheppard to Torren come in please?"
"Go ahead, Dad."
"Teyla and I have decided to spend the night in the cabin, so we'll see you in the morning."
"Okay Dad, I'll see you then, Torren out."
Five minutes later they were back in the jumper and heading for the cabin to spend a few nights together before they went home.
oOo
There were tears in his eyes as he knelt beside the tiny headstone and although he couldn't understand why Sheppard had lied to him, he knew that in the end, this John Sheppard was every bit as strong and resilient as he was himself. This man had spent most of his life trying to find him and Teyla a way off this planet and for that he was forever grateful.
Today was the day they were leaving Sheppard's planet and heading home to their own time and although that was a good thing, there were so many dreadful things about it as well – well there was only one thing really and that was the fact that he and Teyla had decided to keep their relationship between them for the time being. Which meant that they would have to return to separate quarters when they returned home.
He had spent the last two nights in the cabin with Teyla and it had been wonderful, but now it was time to go back in time and face that reality. The one thing he did know though was that he and Teyla could have a future together. They could also raise Torren and watch him grow up and maybe one day they could have children of their own. He knew that he would definitely like a little girl at some point in the near future.
Today he had decided to pay one last visit to Sheppard's grave to pay his respects and say goodbye.
He felt uncomfortable kneeling in front of the tiny grave, but he knew that he should probably say something, so he cleared his throat before speaking, "umm… Sheppard, I just want you to know that I respect you and although I understand that some of the things you did were to protect your children, I don't understand why you lied to me. Anyway, I want you to know that I respect your decisions. One last thing I want you to know is that your children will be well looked after and will have a chance to see Atlantis," he wiped his eyes before continuing, "goodbye Sheppard and thanks for everything."
Standing up, he could have sworn he saw Sheppard in front of him and smiling, but only for a split second. After saluting the tiny grave, he turned around and walked back to the jumper where Teyla and the others were waiting for him.
He walked on in silence, contemplating what was to come and before he'd even reached the jumper Charin ran threw herself into his arms and hugged him tightly, "John I am going to miss you so much," she said kissing him on the cheek.
Holding her tightly he continued to walk, "I'm going to miss you too Charlie."
He reached the jumper a minute later and tried to put Charlie down, but she didn't seem to want to let go of him and to make matters even more uncomfortable, Dave threw his arms around him as well.
"Goodbye John and thanks for everything, I'm going to miss you."
He ruffled Dave's hair, "yeah, I'm going to miss you too kiddo."
When he was finally able to put Charin down and Dave had let go of him, he pulled Torren in for a hug, "I'm going to miss you Torren and I want to wish you the best of luck in restoring Arastica."
Torren clung to him, and he could sense that there were tears in his son's eyes, "I'm going to miss you too Dad and I just want to say that it has been wonderful having you here over the last few weeks."
They must have stayed that way for about five minutes before Torren finally let go and went to hug his mother. Before he had a chance to do anything else, Maddie pulled him in for a hug.
"Goodbye John and thanks for all your help with Arastica, "John suspected that she hadn't finished yet and his suspicions were confirmed a second later, "and please look after yourself John because whether you realise it or not there are so many people relying on you?"
She pulled away and he looked into her bright blue eyes, "I'll do my best doc and make sure you look after Torren because from what I have seen he doesn't know when to quit and go to bed?"
"I'll do my best John," she said before taking Torren's hand.
John watched Teyla say her goodbyes and he found himself becoming quite emotional at the scene playing itself out in front of him. He had no idea why he had become so sentimental, but he could only assume that it had something to do with his relationship with Teyla.
Once she had finished her goodbyes, he grabbed her hand and headed to the jumper. When he arrived inside, he immediately headed for the pilot's seat and did his pre-flight checks. Torren had given him the jumper with the ZPM in as on Arastica they could make more ZPM's. Torren had also given them a couple of extras as well as the coordinates for Arastica, in the hope that they could find it in their own time period.
Taking one last look at the people on the surface, John closed the hatch and took off. His ascent was shallow and within a few minutes, they were flying over their original crash sight and their altitude was climbing.
A lot had happened since they had been in this time, he had crashed a jumper, broken his arm, been infected with a deadly bacterium and found an older version of himself, who had died. He'd discovered an ancient city, irradicated a Wraith virus from its systems, destroyed a Wraith hive, been fed on by a wraith and had his life returned and finally, he'd gone through enzyme withdrawal. He rubbed his chest at the fresh feeding scar, and he wondered how he was going to explain that to Jennifer and Carson. He now regretted not asking Arastica to heal it before he left. Oh well one thing at a time, he thought as the jumper exited the upper atmosphere and flew into space.
As the jumper approached the anomaly John began to feel a little apprehensive as there were still a million things that could go wrong. Torren had assured him that there was a 99.9 percent chance that nothing would go wrong, but there was still that .1 percent chance and that had him a little freaked out. There was also the fact that the last time he'd entered the anomaly it was extremely painful and had rendered him unconscious. Torren had informed him that was probably because the experiment was malfunctioning at the time, but he couldn't be sure.
Well, he was about to find out because a minute later they entered the anomaly, and he was amazed by what he saw. The colours that surrounded him were intense and he was surprised and a little relieved that there was no pressure or pain this time. Looking around at the bright colours he realised that it was unlike anything he had ever seen before. When they travelled through a stargate the colours were dull in comparison to the swirling reds and oranges that he was seeing now.
Looking over at Teyla he realised that she was relaxed and enjoying the show as well, he had no idea how long it would be before they exited the wormhole and how close to New Athos they would be when they did, so he knew that he would have to be focused.
Keeping his mind on what he was doing, he took a few moments to enjoy the show before they exited the wormhole and when they exited a few minutes later he was relieved to find that they were not going to crash onto New Athos.
Turning to Teyla, he smiled and took her hand, "are you ready to go and pick our son up, Sweetie?"
"I cannot wait to see him again Honey," she replied.
He knew that now that they were back, they would have to stop calling each other by pet names – at least for now, but hopefully, in a few days after they had tried to explain everything to their friends, they should be able to be together.
After squeezing Teyla's hand he let go and gave her one last smile before they began their descent to the planet.
oOo
Approaching the Athosian settlement John was surprised to find that Kanaan was sitting in the clearing where they had left him almost a month ago – although to Kanaan no time had passed.
Teyla walked ahead of him, and he had enough sense to hold back and let her deal with things.
"Kanaan it is good to see you again."
The look on Kanaan's face was one of shock and John could see that he was confused by Teyla's comment.
"Why are you back so soon, you only left five minutes ago?"
"I am sorry Kanaan, but I have decided that I would like to take Torren back to Atlantis with me, I hope you do not mind. I promise that you can spend some time with him on another occasion though."
He watched Kanaan and wondered what his response might be, it was clear by the look on the mans face that he wasn't happy with the request.
"Why?"
"I am sorry Kannan, but I do not wish to be away from him right now, but if you give me a few days I will bring him back to New Athos then."
Before the conversation could continue much further, Ronon came strolling out of the woods with Torren on his shoulders and he was relieved for an interruption to what was an uncomfortable reunion between Kanaan and Teyla.
"Da," Torren squealed holding his hands out towards him.
"Hey, Torren are you ready to come home with me and Momma?" John asked as he took Torren off Ronon's shoulders.
"Yay!" Torren exclaimed.
He turned to look at Kanaan, "I'm sorry about this Kanaan, but Teyla misses Torren when she is not with him, so I think that we need to take him back to Atlantis with us." He didn't bother to tell him how much he missed Torren.
He was relieved when Kanaan nodded his consent, before turning to Teyla, "when will you be bringing my son back to New Athos?"
He winced at that comment because although technically Kanaan was Torren's father, John like to think that he was the child's dad.
"Thank you, Kanaan, and as I said before I will bring him back in a few days," Teyla said, and John was disgusted that she leant to kiss him on his cheek.
Placing Torren on his shoulders, John immediately set out towards the jumper, and he hoped that Teyla was following. Ronon soon came up alongside him and he sensed that he was curious about what was going on.
"Hey Sheppard, what's going on?"
"Can't Teyla come and pick up her son if she wants to?"
"That's not what I mean Sheppard and you know it."
"I don't know what you mean Chewie."
"There's a feeding mark on your chest, so are you going to tell me what's going on or not?"
He sighed he knew that he would have to try and explain things to his friends eventually, but not here and not now, "how about I tell you along with Woolsey and Rodney when we get back to Atlantis?"
Thankfully Ronon nodded and they fell into silence. It wasn't long before Teyla came up alongside him and they all walked back to the jumper together. When they finally arrived, Ronon looked at him before turning around and heading back to the settlement.
"Hey Chewie, where are you going?"
"I'm still going hunting with the Athosians, come pick me up in two days," he said waving as he walked off.
After watching Ronon walk off he turned to Teyla and took her hand, "are you ready to take Torren home?"
She smiled at him with one of her most gorgeous smiles, "yes John I am ready to take our son home."
They entered the jumper together and once he had handed Torren off to Teyla he sat in the pilot's seat. He hoped that future Torren had shut the anomaly down so that when they went through the gate, they would find themselves on Atlantis in their own time because if he hadn't who knows where or when they might end up.
It was only a few minutes before they approached the stargate and he knew that when he finally got home there would be a lot of explaining to do, but right now he was happy to be with Teyla and his son.
He looked at Teyla and Torren sitting beside him, and he couldn't wait to see what the future held for the three of them together, so after dialling the DHD he waited for the wormhole to spring to life and when it did, he guided the jumper through the gate and back to Atlantis and within a few seconds they were home.
Fin…
Thank you to everyone who has commented on and reviewed this story, I appreciate your support. I hope you enjoyed writing reading this story as much as I've enjoyed writing it.