A strangely familiar flash of light in the corner of John Sheppard's eye draws his startled gaze to a small child standing in the middle of his quarters, holding a very familiar sphere in her tiny hands and looking miserable.
"Hello," he says in his most friendly voice, trying not to scare the child.
"Hello," she parroted back to him. Gulping obviously, she then asks, "Are you Colonel John Sheppard?"
"Yes, I am. Did Xander send you?" He nods at the sphere still in her hands.
"Oh!" As if her attention was once again called to the object, she quickly puts the silverish orb on the floor and pulls a bag out of a belt loop of her jeans, opening the bag and scooping the thing up into it before taking off her backpack. She then takes a letter out of said backpack and holds it out, along with the bag, "I'm sorry, Papa told me to give you this when I found you and this too, so that I do not try to go home too soon. I promised him I would obey and I keep my promises, Uncle John. Papa told me to be a very good girl for you while I'm here and he and Mama will come for me as soon as it is safe again."
Eyebrow raised in surprise, John takes the letter, but doesn't read it yet. "What's your name, kid?"
Blushing with embarrassment, the girl looks at the floor and says, "Atiya, it means gift. Papa and Mama say I was a gift sent from Heaven and they gave me a name to fit."
"Well, Atiya, I think that's one of the prettiest names I've ever heard. Just to be clear, is Xander your Papa?"
The child nods quickly, but says nothing else.
"All right then," John stifles a sigh, not wanting the already obviously uphappy girl any more upset. "Let's just see what your Papa wrote in this letter, okay?"
Opening it, he read…
Dear John,
That doesn't look right at all, man. Anyway, I'm sending our most precious thing in the world to you for safety, our daughter, Atiya.
If anything should happen to us during this apocalypse, (this one is a potentially world ending, again) we've decided we'd like you to watch over her. We've done some checking up on you since we saw you last and KNOW you're a good man. Please keep Atiya safe and if all works out, we'll be there before the week is out to pick her up again.
Remind Dick to behave himself, all right? Your niece is a special girl, but she is NOT to be experimented on or hurt in any way and if she so much as tells us he hurt her feelings, I cannot guarantee Ibuin will be able to restrain herself from a more drastic form of a lesson than last time. I have to admit, I'D be giving him a "lesson" or two of my own.
Keep her with you in Atlantis, please, as sending her to Earth away from you is NOT what we need right now. She'll be safer in your floating city, for reasons we can't go into at the moment, but do NOT send her to Earth or allow her to be sent there. I can't stress that enough!
Keep the Orb of Janus in a safe place only YOU know about, it can get you two to safety if your own people try to force you to go against our wishes. Maybe you could take refuge with some of your Pegasus Galaxy friends if necessary. Wherever you are, we will find you both.
Oh and don't try to lie to Atiya, or sugar coat what is written in this letter. She's only 6, but she knows the score, having lived through several minor (less than world ending) events in the past few years. We rescued her from really nasty slavers who were monsters, REAL monsters, dealing in very young girls who are special in an unusual way. If she chooses to tell you her secret, make sure you don't betray her trust, all right?
If we don't come for her within two weeks, it would be safe to assume our Earth is gone and you need to keep Atiya from ever getting her hands on that Orb again. If she tried to use it, she'd just get eaten alive and I MEAN that literally, bro. Take care of my baby girl for me, all right? I'm counting on you man.
Xander and Ibuin
John gulped and looked down once more at the face of the little girl. Tears are now pouring down her cheeks and his heart melts at the sight. Dropping to one knee, he opens his arms and she rushes into them, sobbing her heart out and holding onto him for dear life.
"Hey, your Papa and Mama struck me as really tough customers, I'm sure they'll be fine." He pats her on the back, uncomfortably aware that he really doesn't know enough about children to deal with this, but he's being trusted with her and he'll do his best.