Thank you so much for the encouragement and the reviews. And yes, sheppardlover928 they will meet again. If I am not mistaken probably in chapter 6 or 7, but right now Rodney is being a little bit difficult and wants to stay with his research.

Sorry that this chapter is pretty much an exposition dump, but it is necessary to understand the story. Hope you can enjoy it anyway.

Seasons come, and seasons go
Here I wait for something to be
Try to get as much as I can see
Hungry for life
But have you seen the sands of time
Every day is a moment in past
Every heartbeat a step to my last

Sands of Time – Edguy

He is sure of it. This assignment is a punishment. His uncle Cameron had to boot him out of the mountain after that one mission went to hell. Lieutenant Markus Lorne looks around the cave he is currently living in with his team. They are stuck on this boring back water planet with nothing on it but an ancient structure which his team is currently supposed to be exploring. He took it upon himself to secure their hideout, but he hadn't thought this one through. Apparently, the lack of company gave his idle thoughts room.

Too much room.

It's moments like this he feels like the whole joining the Air Force thing had been a mistake. But maybe it only was that he wanted to be a pilot and the air force had sent him to Cheyenne Mountain instead. To say he wasn't exactly enthusiastic would put it mildly. He had looked into all possibilities, but they hadn't given him any chance. Told him he should be proud. And yes, he was proud to serve there, now. Top Secret assignment, the highest security clearance possible and the discovery that his godfather was to be his CO made the whole experience a lot more enjoyable.

But never mind he got himself and his teammates into a whole lot of trouble of world. Usually they came back with barely a scratch but this one… it had been bad. He still has no idea how he had ended up in the SGC infirmary. The first thing he remembers after waking up is being fussed over by his godmother. That had been a shock to say the least. Nearly three years at Cheyenne Mountain and he never knew that his aunt Carolyn is the head of medicine on base.

He feels himself getting angrier at that memory.

The day of his release from the infirmary he received his orders to go to Pegasus. Another galaxy! He had no idea what to tell his mom. So, he only told her he was assigned to be out of country for a while. She probably figured he had to be in Siberia or something since he was working out of Schriever, per his official cover. She had barely reacted.

But had nearly taken his head of when he told her he had applied to and gotten into the academy. What had she imagined what he would do for school? Become a lawyer? Not likely, what with growing up in Colorado Springs, having an air force Colonel/General as a godfather, not to mention some of her friends Daniel, Sam, Jack, Vala and well Teal'c, who got introduced to him as Murray all were or at least worked for the Air force.

He is still very deep in his pity party when he hears his team running back to the cave. He holds back the foliage so the three of them can file in. His trusty marine sergeant Tom Meyers, who actually already served with him at the SGC, the german army lieutenant Carl Donner and well their team geek Dr. Meredith 'Mer' McKay. The constant thorn in his side.
They all are out of breath.

"What the hell happened out there?" he asks looking from one to the other.

"The gate activated, so we packed up and ran back here!" Donner offers still out of breath.

"Did you see who came through?" he tries to find out what they have seen.

"No, we didn't exactly have time for that. You idiot!" yeah, so physical activities are really not good for Mer's mood.

"Thank you for the input doctor, but seriously we need to know who or what is out there. We were supposed to be here alone for three months. Under strict orders not to dial back before the set time if there was no life or death threat."

"Maybe it is a problem in Atlantis and they are looking for us?" Donner tries, already sounding a lot better now.

"They would've radioed instead of coming through." Mer stops that idea directly.

After a moment of contemplation Markus takes the initiative: "I'll go out there and try to find out what is going on. Keep alert. I'll radio back if there is a problem."

He makes his way through the underbrush in the direction of the gate figuring he can pick up the trail of whoever came through from there. When he arrives at the edge of the forest, he can see the gate and also two men standing guard.

They look like Atlantis personnel.

He is just about to get up and make himself known when he sees one of them trigger their earpiece. He expects to hear something but gets only static. When he changes the channel it still stays static.

This is weird.

He turns around and makes his way back to the cave as quietly as he can. About half way back he hears voices and freezes.

"McKay, move it along. Yes, the station had been activated so someone was here just a little while ago. The colonel decided we have to leave."

"But we can wait for them. Meet them. If they are actual ancient, maybe we can learn something from them!"

"Remember the last time? That wasn't so successful, and we were booted out of the city."

Markus observes a military officer dragging a man after him. The man looks like a younger version of Mer's dad and the officer he can't place but something about him seems familiar. "Major! Shut up and let me walk at my own speed. We are not in any immediate danger so there is absolutely no need to run!"

Oh god, if that is Mer's dad - but a lot younger... He stops his train of thought and it gets replaced by a gut feeling and an urge to hurt someone.
They sent us to the past for our team building. When we get back home, I am going to kill someone!

With one last look at the arguing twosome Markus finally turns around to meet back up with his teammates. They will never believe what's going on here!

I feel the need to tell you: Markus wanted this complicated family story. I couldn't stop him from telling his tale.