Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate or any of its characters. I do love to write about them though.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or medical health care professional. Although I have tried to research medical terms, they may not be 100 percent accurate.

It's taken a while to write this one, but I started a new job at the beginning of the year. That and running around after teenagers gives me very little personal time. I will try and update once a week if I can.

Sheppard is trying to come to terms with the events that took place in my story 'Lost.' Atlantis is lost in space and time; Sheppard is sleep-deprived and exhausted, Teyla is critically ill and in stasis and he is a father to two young children. If you haven't read 'Lost' you will need to go back and read it.

Chapter 1: Lost in time.

He was running through the corridors of Atlantis, looking for someone – anyone, hoping to prove that he wasn't the only one alive on Atlantis. It had been hours since he'd seen Rodney and at that time the scientist had burns on his face and hands. Rodney had very quickly disappeared after that, and he hadn't seen anyone since.

He had no idea why he was running, but a sense of panic had overcome him when he'd seen Rodney – what if Teyla was right and he'd left everyone to die? If that were the case, then he deserved to be alone and afraid. Why had everyone else died? Why hadn't it been him who had died? These were all good questions, and his addled brain could barely make sense of what was happening to him.

Suddenly a loud moan invaded his senses and when he turned around, he saw a dark shape somewhere down the corridor. He slowly approached the shape and all of a sudden it moved. The once-dead lights began to flicker creating an eerie glow in the damp corridor and a sense of foreboding came over him. In the strange light, he caught a glimpse of a face covered in deep blemishes and scabs. Before he realised what was going on there were strong, tiny, hands around his throat and he soon realised that it was Teyla. She looked worse than she had when she'd been put into stasis and all he could do was wonder why she had deteriorated so rapidly. More to the point why wasn't she in stasis?

Her eyes looked massive set in her gaunt face and when she spoke to him it was in a shaky whisper – although she was almost begging him, "please do not let me die, John?"

He awoke with a start and found that he was gasping for air. Although he'd been having nightmares for months, this was the first time he'd had this particular nightmare. The images were so vivid in his mind that he decided he was never going to close his eyes again.

Gentle hands helped him sit up and a soft lilting voice pervaded his panicked mind.

"Easy lad, just take deep breaths."

Trying to focus on his breathing, he tried to get the image of Teyla trying to kill him out of his head – he sure hoped that he never had that nightmare again. He'd give anything to have a dreamless night's sleep, he was positive that it had been six months since he'd had a good six hours of uninterrupted sleep.

Eventually, he got his breathing under control, and he was relieved when Carson laid him back on his pillows.

"How long was I asleep doc?"

"Around three hours."

Only three hours of sleep and a disturbing nightmare no wonder he felt exhausted, but that was nothing new, he felt as if he'd been running on empty for months now.

"I thought you said that you could give me something, to stop me from dreaming doc?"

"I'm sorry General, but the drug I gave you usually works, do you want to try something else?"

"No don't worry about it. I don't think I ever want to sleep again. What time is it?"

"It's about 0200 hours, and whether you like it or not you should try to get some more sleep."

He chose to ignore that comment, as he had convinced himself that he was never sleeping again, "How's Rodney going doc? Do you know if he's figured out where and when we are yet?"

"Jennifer made him go to bed twenty minutes ago, so no he hasn't discovered where and when we are yet. Lorne is in the control room keeping an eye on things, so why don't you go back to sleep, and you can go back to the control room in the morning."

He knew that the doctor was right and since he was in the infirmary, there was a good bet that he wouldn't be going anywhere before morning. And even if he managed to escape, he knew that Carson would track him down – the man had a nose like a bloodhound when tracking down missing patients.

Trying to not aggravate his pounding head, he slowly nodded, "you're probably right doc."

"And I'll give you something for that headache as well."

For the first time since he'd awoken, he realised that there was an IV in his left arm, "hey doc, what's this for?"

"You've been burning the candle at both ends for weeks now, so getting extra fluids into you never hurts. Anyway…I think it's time I left you to rest."

Suddenly he remembered his kids. No matter how challenging the day had been for him he was sure that it was ten times more traumatic for Torren.

"Carson, how are the kids?"

"They're with Jennifer at the moment and when I spoke to her twenty minutes ago, they were both asleep, although Torren was upset earlier and Charin cried herself to sleep."

"I guess I'll have to have breakfast with them in the morning and try to make time for them each day from now on."

"Aye lad, you will, but for now you need to go to sleep because you'll be no good to anyone if you don't start getting some decent rest."

Suddenly he felt the pull of the IV in the back of his hand and he was relieved a few minutes later when the pounding in his head began to dissipate.

"I'm going to leave you to rest now General. If you need anything I'll be in my office."

After Carson had left, he lay staring at the ceiling thinking about the incident that had landed him in the infirmary this time.

The city had come to an abrupt halt when they entered the nebula. The sudden jolt had thrown him out of his office chair and into the adjacent wall headfirst. It had left a bump and cut on the back of his head. They started moving soon after that and they were very quickly sucked into a strange anomaly. Which was what led them to their current predicament of being lost in space and time.

He'd spent quite a bit of time on the control room balcony after they had exited the anomaly, but eventually, he'd made his way to the infirmary, where Carson had placed six stitches in the back of his head – luckily, he didn't have a concussion. However, Carson had insisted that he spend the night in the infirmary for observation. At that point, the doctor had promised to give him something to help him sleep without the nightmares, but clearly, that hadn't worked.

The room was dark other than the faint lights coming from the hallway leading to Carson's office, so he had nothing to do but think, or fall asleep. Considering he'd spent way too much time thinking lately, he decided that he might as well get a few hours of sleep. His head was feeling fuzzy, and his eyelids were beginning to droop anyway, so in the end, he gave in to the pull of sleep.

There was sunlight streaming through the tiny infirmary window when he awoke the next morning, and he was happy to say that he'd slept without having a nightmare. The lights were dim and there was still minimal staff on duty, so it was a good bet that it was still early.

Carson walked into his private room at that moment and the man looked exhausted.

"When's the last time you got some sleep, Carson?"

"Don't worry about me General, I will be heading to bed once my shift is over and hopefully I'll be able to get at least eight hours of uninterrupted sleep."

"Make sure you do doc; anyway, what time is it?"

"It's about 0700 hours and when you've had some breakfast, Rodney needs to see you in his lab."

"So, you're not going to keep me here doc?"

"No, you don't have a concussion and although I'd rather you were resting, there's so much to do at the moment and nowhere near enough staff, so Atlantis needs you."

They'd lost a lot of staff over the last few months, due to injury, or illness and because they had no way of contacting Earth, they hadn't been able to replace them. He shuddered at how many deaths he would have to report to stargate command when they were finally able to contact earth again – although he wondered if they ever would. Basically, they had to find out where and when they were, find a way to get back to their correct time and region of space, defeat a formidable enemy and find a planet to settle down on. At the moment he didn't like their chances, but if there were a way for it to happen, he knew that they'd find it.

Carson's voice interrupted his thoughts, "General are you okay?"

"Huh?"

"I asked if you're alright, you seem to have zoned out for a moment?"

"Yeah, I'm alright doc, so what's for breakfast and where are my clothes."

The doctor glared at him, and it made him feel uncomfortable, he had way too much on his mind at the moment to get into an emotional conversation with Beckett. Luckily, the doctor didn't press the matter further.

"How about I get you your clothes and then you can go and have breakfast with Torren. I've told Rodney that it may be a while before you report to his lab.

"Sound great doc."

Once Carson left his room, he found his thoughts turning towards Teyla. It had been over a day since they'd put her in stasis, and he hadn't had a chance to go and see her again. Although he had no idea what he'd say to her if he did – not that she could hear him anyway.

Perhaps he'd go and visit her for a while after breakfast. He knew that she wouldn't be aware of his presence but at least he could feel close to her.

Closing his eyes, he tried to picture her as the strong vibrant woman he knew before she became ill. He really hoped that Carson and Jennifer would find a cure quickly so that she could be that way again. With all of these thoughts rolling around in his head it wasn't long before he fell asleep again.

It was another two hours before he left the infirmary. After sleeping for another hour, Carson delivered him a breakfast of bacon and eggs, with toast and juice on the side. There was also a huge cup of coffee, just what he needed to start the day. He was a bit worried about the fact that he didn't have breakfast with Torren, but he could talk to him later to try and reassure him.

Now he was on his way to his apartment to spend an hour or two with his kids before he was due in Rodney's lab. Lorne and Zelenka were in the control room still trying to work out where and when they were – although he was fairly sure that Lorne should be resting by now. He knew that he would have to get to the control room eventually, but first, he needed to see Torren and Charin.

He was about halfway to his apartment when his com activated, "Sheppard here," he answered tapping the earpiece.

He was surprised to hear Jennifer's voice on the other end, "General I need you to come down to the stasis room as soon as possible."

A wave of fear swept over him, "Is something wrong with Teyla doc?"

"No Teyla's fine. It's Torren he refuses to leave until he can talk to Teyla. I've tried to explain to him that he can't, but he just doesn't seem to understand."

"Okay then doc, I'm on my way. Is Charin with you?"

"Yes, she is and for the moment she's quiet. Do you want me to take her to the daycare room?"

"Yes please, perhaps I'll go and spend some time with her later, Sheppard out."

Sighing he turned around and headed in the direction of the stasis room. He knew that Atlantis was still in danger, but right now his son needed him, so that took precedence.

When he arrived in the Stasis room Torren was sitting in front of Teyla with his arms crossed and a pout on his face – he didn't miss the tears in his son's eyes either.

Jennifer was standing in the corner of the room with Charin in her arms, so he looked at his daughter and it hurt him at how much she looked like Teyla – although the messy hair on top of her head was more like his. After stoking Charin's head and kissing her on the cheek, he looked up at Jennifer.

"I'll take it from here thanks doc."

"I'll catch you later General and I'm available at 1900 hours if you need me to keep an eye on the children again."

Once the doctor had left, he went and sat crossed-legged on the floor next to Torren and stared at Teyla – waiting for Torren to say something.

He missed her too and desperately needed to speak with her, but for now, the best place for her was in stasis. The range of emotions he was going through right now was difficult to navigate, so he could only imagine how difficult it was for his son.

Finally, Torren spoke to him, "Daddy, why can't I speak to Momma?"

"You can speak to her T.J., it's just that she can't answer back at the moment."

Torren looked up at him and there were still tears in his son's eyes as he spoke, "like when she was having her big sleep."

The big sleep that Torren was referring to was when Teyla was in her coma, he had told T.J. to constantly talk to his mother then, hoping that Teyla would hear him. He had hoped that it would give her the strength to come back to them.

"Yes, just like that."

"Can we speak to Momma every day, and will you come with me?"

"How about we try and make some time every evening after dinner? We can bring Charin with us as well. Although, she may start fussing."

"Thanks, Daddy, we don't have to start tonight, but can we start tomorrow night?"

"I'll do my best T.J."

Torren turned to face Teyla before speaking again, "I love you, Momma. Don't worry I'll see you later."

"Alright then T.J., let me say something to Momma, then it's time for you to go to daycare because I'm due in Uncle Rodney's lab."

Torren quickly left the room leaving him alone with Teyla, "I love you sweetie and I want you to know that Carson and Jennifer are doing everything they can to find a cure. I am doing everything I can to look after our children and protect Atlantis. At the moment we have no idea where or when we are, but I promise you that we'll find a way home and I will find a way to get you back to your people."

He had no idea whether the Athosians were still alive, but he hoped that they were for Teyla's sake.

After taking one last look at his wife, he turned around and left the stasis room. When he arrived outside, he was surprised to find that Jennifer was waiting with Torren.

"Shouldn't you be in the infirmary doc?"

"I've just dropped Charin off at daycare, so I thought that I'd come back and take Torren so that you can get to Rodney's lab."

"Thanks, doc." He said before kneeling in front of Torren and addressing him, "I'll come and pick you up at the end of the day and we can have dinner together okay."

"Yes Daddy," Torren replied before throwing his small arms around his neck.

"I'll see you later buddy and try to have a good day."

"I will Daddy," Torren said letting go of his neck and kissing him on the cheek.

Torren smiled at him – although the smiled didn't quite reach his eyes – held Jennifer's hand and walked off down the corridor.

Once they had disappeared into a transporter he turned around and began the walk to Rodney's lab. His head was beginning to pound, and he felt like going back to sleep, but there was no time for that because as usual, he had a lot of work to do.

He was halfway to Rodney's lab when his com activated, "Sheppard here." He answered tapping his earpiece.

"Don't bother to meet me in my lab, can you come to the control room straight away?"

"You could have told me that five minutes ago McKay."

"Yes, yes I could have, but I didn't so can you come to the control room straight away."

He had to bite his tongue to stop shouting at the annoying scientist, "I'll be there in five minutes. I'll see you in my office, Sheppard out!"

Sighing he changed directions and headed to the control room. He knew that it was going to be an extremely long day since it was only 1100 hours and already, he was feeling exhausted.

When he arrived in the control room five minutes later, he headed straight for his office and was surprised to find that Rodney was already there along with Lorne. He immediately went and sat behind his desk, hoping that sitting down would help his pounding head.

"What can I do for you gentlemen?"

"We've detected an advanced civilization sir," Lorne replied with a smile.

Okay so now they had the ability to detect advanced civilizations, this was news to him, "And how did you detect that?"

"I found a device in my lab this morning and since you were busy, I asked Lorne to help me activate it to find out what it did. For some reason it didn't recognise my stupid fake ATA gene."

He glared at Rodney before turning his attention to Lorne, "I thought that you were supposed to be resting this morning, Colonel. I need you and Teldy to take the night shift between you tonight."

"It's not Lorne's fault," Rodney began," I insisted that he come and help me. I told him that this could help save Atlantis."

Sighing, he decided that it wasn't worth arguing about, "how far is this planet, McKay?"

"About a four-hour jumper trip."

"Alright," he said nodding his head, "I think it warrants some investigation. Has anyone worked out where or when we are yet?"

"We're not sure," Rodney replied, "from what we can ascertain we're billions of kilometres away from our last known location and there's a good bet that we're in another galaxy. Although I haven't figured out which one."

A sudden thought occurred to him before he continued, "McKay, do you think that they have the ability to detect Atlantis."

"It's possible, but I'm not sure whether they've developed that level of technology yet."

"Right, I think that we should go and visit the locals. McKay, you are with me, and Lorne I want you to stay on Atlantis. As soon as we're gone, I want you to move Atlantis, in case the people on that planet are hostile. And get Zelenka to continue to research where and when we are. I think we'll leave in an hour McKay, and I think that I'll ask Carson to come along with us. Right if everyone knows what they're doing you're both dismissed."

"Yes sir," Lorne replied, before getting up and leaving his office.

He sat and waited for Rodney to move and for some reason the man just sat staring at him.

"Why are you still here McKay?"

"Why do I have to go on this mission, can't you take Zelenka with you? I mean technically I'm not part of your team anymore because you don't really have a team and you know how lousy I am at negotiations, Sheppard."

It was a true statement, Rodney was no diplomat, but neither was he. But he got the feeling that given the fact that they were an advanced civilization they'd probably need a scientist. He was sure that Carson could learn a thing or two about medicine as well.

"I want my best scientist with me and that just happens to be you, McKay."

"And why do you want Carson coming with us."

"I want a doctor with us and because I want Jennifer here to look after the kids, It'll have to be Carson."

Ohh…well, I guess I'll go and get ready then."

"You do that McKay and I'll see you in an hour."

When McKay finally left his office the first thing, he did was tap his earpiece, "Sheppard to Beckett come in please."

A groggy voice eventually answered him, "Beckett here?"

"Sorry to wake you doc, but I'm going to need you on an away mission."

The other end of the comms was quiet, and he wondered if Carson was going to answer.

"Carson?"

"Really why?" Carson replied.

"McKay has found a technologically advanced civilization on a nearby planet, and I think we should go and investigate. Perhaps we can find some answers from the locals."

"Yes, but why do you need me?"

"I need a doctor, so you're it. I'll meet you in the jumper bay in an hour, Sheppard out."

After deactivating his comms, he looked at his watch and realised that he had just enough time for lunch with Torren.

Fifteen minutes later he found himself in the Mess Hall with Charin in his arms and Torren sitting opposite him. At the moment he was trying to eat his pizza, drink a chocolate milkshake, feed his daughter, and talk to his son. He was convinced that Teyla managed this kind of multi-tasking much better than he did. He wished that she were here right now, then he could get her to reassure the children that everything would be alright.

"Daddy, why do you have to go on a mission?"

"I'm sorry T.J., but we've found an inhabited planet and we think that the people there may be able to help us."

"Find a home?" Torren asked with a hopeful look on his tiny face.

"Yes, we're hoping that they may be able to help us find a way home."

He didn't know how much Torren knew about the enemy that had destroyed New Lantia and countless other worlds. He wasn't even sure that Torren understood what had happened to New Lantia.

"What if it gets blown up?"

Well, he had his answer, Torren understood at least a little bit of what was going on.

Looking into his young son's eyes, he spoke with as much belief and conviction as he could muster, "I promise that I will do everything I can to make sure that doesn't happen."

"I know you will Daddy," Torren replied before taking another bite of his pizza.

By this time Charin had finished her milk and was starting to fuss, so he immediately placed her over his shoulder and started to pat her on the back. She very quickly settled down and he was able to eat some more of his food.

"I'm going to try and be back by dinner time tonight, but I can't promise anything. Aunt Jenn will look after you again if I can't make it."

"I understand Daddy."

He wondered how much Torren really understood. Over the last six months, he'd tried to make as much time as he could for his children, but Teyla had been gravely ill and Atlantis had been in constant danger, so he feared that it wasn't enough.

For the rest of lunch, he sat and listened while Torren babbled on about all sorts of things and for a moment, he almost felt normal. But eventually, it was time to go, "Okay Torren I have to go now, Major Teldy is going to take you and Charin back to the daycare room. Remember I love you and your sister, and I will do everything I can to get back to you."

He noticed that Teldy had come up to stand beside him, so he kissed Charin on the cheek and handed her to the Major. He then leaned down and kissed Torren on the top of his head.

It was a relief that Teldy had shown up since if he didn't hurry, he would be late to the jumper bay and the last thing he needed now was Rodney complaining.

Ten minutes later he walked into Jumper one, two minutes early, and he was happy to see that Rodney and Carson were both there. Carson was checking out his medical supplies – as usual. Rodney seemed to be doing the pre-flight checks which he was grateful for because now all they needed to do was leave.

"Are we ready to leave?" He asked his companions.

When they both nodded, he powered up the jumper and opened the roof hatch and within a few minutes they were in space heading for the unknown planet where he hoped that they could find some answers.

TBC…

Please let me know what you think.