This one is a continuation of the first chapter. I hadn't planned on doing more, but it came to me and I hope you all like it.
"I'm what now?" The young man had been moved from the infirmary to a very nice room with a spectacular view of the ocean.
The look of consternation on their guest's face didn't look faked to John.
"Yeah, that was pretty much MY reaction too. I mean, how would any brother of mine get from Earth to here?" Sheppard asked.
"That brings up another question for me," the younger man continues, ignoring that fact for the moment. "Where the hell am I and how did I end up on the set of what looks like a really high budget Dr. Who episode? And why did some really big guy with dreads shoot me with a frickin' blaster right outta science fiction land?" He looks irked by that part.
John offers diplomatically, "Well you DID arrive behind me with a machete in your hand. Ronon was only protecting his senior officer and friend."
Nodding and shrugging now, "Okay, I'll give you that one, but how did I get here?" His eyes widen and he snaps his fingers, "That BALL thingy! Where is it? I've gotta get home! The girls are probably all going nuts, they may even kill Lacey for throwing it to me, or at least put her in the infirmary. Let's not even THINK about what Ibuin will do!"
He shakes his head, as if to rid it of those thoughts, "I have to have that thing back because I'm sure it was how I got here in the first place. No offense, Sheppard, but I'll look you up when I'm back where I belong and that's not here. I've got work to do back on Earth and can't stay. We have an apocalypse to avert and it's not even May yet. Usually the big ones don't happen until then, nobody really knows why. It's like Dawn always getting kidnapped on Tuesdays, tradition or something."
Sheppard realizes how most of his team's problems seem to happen or at least start on Fridays and starts to comment on that, but is interrupted by Woolsey.
"I'm afraid that 'ball thingy' as you so eloquently put it, is being studied by our scientists and you can't have it back. It's Ancient technology and can't be left in the hands of unqualified civilians."
The superior tone is definitely there and look, the nose is even in the air. There are times when John thinks it must be encoded into the man's DNA to be such a condescending ass some days and today is, unfortunately, one of them. He winces at that little speech and isn't surprised when his brother (amazingly easy to believe, especially right now when a familiar look of anger starts to reshape the facial features) bristles at the words and tone.
"You don't seem to understand, Mr. Woolsey, I'm not from YOUR Earth or YOUR universe. I'm pretty damn sure I jumped dimensions at the very least before I jumped planets. Something about some- People being where I jumped to FIRST that I knew for a fact were all dead in MY universe. So I'll thank you to give me ALL of my possessions back and let me go, BEFORE things get bad."
The young man said that last part with quite a bit of menace, John thought and the eye patch helped a lot with his glare. Sheppard rated it up there with some of the best he'd seen, especially since the guy had been joking and goofing off just a few minutes before this conversation had gone to hell. Maybe he'd better try to step in and smooth things over, "Okay, truce," he holds up his hands and steps between them.
Sparkling green light appears behind the one eyed man and a dark skinned, black hair and eyed, smiling, woman coalesces out of it. Laughingly she asks, "Oh my husband, what have you gotten yourself into now?"
Turning around with surprise, Xander throws himself into her arms and kisses her intently, backing her against a wall.
John knows he shouldn't take his eyes off this scene, but is embarrassed and feels like a voyeur.
Woolsey clears his throat self importantly and John quickly glares at him for it before turning back to the kissing couple.
Pulling back from his wife just enough to talk, Xander smiles and says, "You found me. I was afraid that I was so far away you couldn't this time. And that officious little toad over there took my amulet."
John smirked at the glare sent Woolsey's way for that transgression, but quickly hides it when the man looks to him for protection.
Both Lanteans gasp, however, when the woman holds up her hand and the amulet appears, lying across her palm in a green glow.
Laughing again, the woman puts the amulet around her husband's neck once more and he sighs in contentment before turning back to the other men in the room.
"Okay, John was it? It was really nice meeting you and I hope there's one just like you on MY Earth, but my ride is here and I'm ready to go home. Don't get your hopes up about finding me on your Earth, I might never have been born. I'm going looking for you, first chance I get though."
Turning to Woolsey, "Dick, not so nice meeting you and I WILL be taking everything with me that I came with and no, I'm not asking permission." He turns back to his wife, "Oh yeah, Ibuin, this is my alternate reality brother, John Sheppard. John, this is my wife, Ibuin. She's a minor goddess, from Africa. It pays not to tick her off," that is said with a smirk.
Cocking his head to one side, "Good to know," he smiles, a little wistfully, at losing the opportunity to get to know this man, his little brother, better. "It's nice to meet you, Ibuin." Wait, did he really say, Goddess?
Ibuin laughs, "A brother, eh? I'll have to help you find him on our world, my love. He looks and feels like someone worth getting to know." She smiles approvingly at the Colonel.
John isn't sure what to make of that last statement OR the look directed his way.
"Honey, if you don't mind, I had my favorite machete, my yellow shirt and tan pants, my lucky socks and the demon stomping boots. Oh yeah," he turns and glares one last time at Richard. "A silver-ish orb with funny writing on it in blue, though that shouldn't be touched with the hands. It's what brought me here in the first place and HE took it away from me."
The woman summons a bag from out of nowhere and suddenly there's a round shape in it, then more things make the thing bulge a bit. She turns to look at the fastidious little man, "Mr. Woolsey, I'd suggest you not steal from or try to keep inadvertent travelers against their will in the future, it might be frowned upon by those that love them. Be thankful that you helped tend my husband's wounds when he arrived or I would be VERY displeased." Ibuin said with a sniff and suddenly there was a hairless cat standing there, shivering and frightened.
With a loud growl/wail, it ran from the room, into the bathroom, the only door that would open for it.
John is shocked, to say the least and then he gets upset. "How did you-? Turn him back! I may not like him very much, but he IS the leader of this expedition and we were just starting to break him out of the worst of his ass moments. We can't have him be a cat. I can't report he's been turned INTO a cat or they'll relieve me of command and put me in a straight jacket." He looks horrified, "The next person they send to replace him could be ten times worse and untrainable!" He looks truly horrified at this prospect.
Xander snickers, "Don't panic, it's not permanent. Ibuin doesn't do permanent curses, she just teaches lessons. By sundown he'll be back to normal and hopefully, with a bit of an attitude adjustment. It really was nice meeting you, bro. Maybe next time I'll have a chance to get to know you better. Oh and my name is Xander, Alexander Harris. In MY world, I'm over in Africa right now, training a bunch of unruly young hooligans to fight to good fight. Try not to give my name to the idiots in charge, would you? I'd hate for an alternate me to have to deal with him. I might not be so forgiving in this universe."
John smiled, dazedly, "Okay."
The unusual couple disappears the same way the woman appeared in the first place and Sheppard wanders over to a wall, leans up against it and slides down. No one would believe this report. He starts thinking of ways to creatively write the report that won't get him a section eight and absently pets the cat that crawls pitifully into his lap.