John stood in the corner of the workout room as they had called it; watching in fascination as Teyla and Rodney moved in what John could only describe as an amazing dance of man and woman fighting and exercise.

Each member of his team had a different fighting style. Ronan's was reckless and bent on causing the most serious injury, or disarming the person at all costs. John's was just to get back into control. And Teyla's was graceful and amazing. Until this point Rodney had never truly fought.

However as John watched his brother now, he was impressed, because Rodney appeared deep in concentration, powerful but graceful. Every movement looked planned out, intended. They'd been exercising for nearly twenty minutes and Rodney was doing better than John did.

Rodney hadn't succeeded in wiping Teyla out yet, but then she hadn't knocked him to the ground either. He seemed to find a way to block nearly ever move. He'd been hit twice, and Teyla had been hit once. It was unlike anything John had ever seen.

He watched as they both came to a stop, inches from one another, breathing hard. Teyla smiled slowly, "You are indeed a warrior, Rodney." She stepped back and lowered her head, "Very good."

Rodney grinned and pressed his forehead to hers. "Thank you," he replied as he stepped back… and wiped his brow.

"I think you have a formidable chance of beating your brother," joked Teyla as she tossed Rodney a towel to dry off.

"Okay, that's not fair," John said as he watched his brother, who looked better than he ever had. "So what really happened, Rodney?"

"They taught me how to fight; how to not only use my mind…but my body as well…"

"It's an ancient form of fighting they taught you…called Tau'reen, that is highly respected among my people. They had a great deal of faith and patience to teach you such an art, and you have obviously learned a good deal of it."

"It wasn't easy," replied Rodney.

"I'm sure. I would love to know more about this culture," Teyla spoke.

"I'd love to tell you. Dinner?" he said grinning at her.

"I will see you at dinner then," she offered one last smile at the two men, then left the work out room.

"Well, according to Beckett you're in the best shape you've been in for years. Elizabeth gave us the okay, we've got a mission tomorrow afternoon."

"Sounds good. I actually have a meeting with Radek and Elizabeth, so I'll catch up with you later?"

"Ah, yeah. Rod," he called as his brother headed towards the door, "I'm really glad you're back, and safe."

"Thanks…it's nice to be back," smiling Rodney headed out of the room, off to his quarters to get a shower and go to the meeting.

"AR-2 you've got a go, we'll talk to you again in four hours. Be safe," Elizabeth called from the control room. With a nod from Major Lorne she watched as they stepped through the event horizon.

John's voice startled her from behind, "So…have you seen my brother?"

Elizabeth turned and offered her friend a smile, "No, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, that's the problem…He's like a new man."

"There's a problem with that?" Elizabeth asked, with a sly grin on her face.

"It's just weird…He could wipe the floor with me!"

"John, your brother was gone for three weeks learning from the very best how to fight. Yes, he has changed, but I don't think it was a bad transformation."

"Yeah…well…I'm not sure what to do now. It's not like he needs me to protect him anymore."

"He'll always need you, John."

"I didn't sense him when he was gone for three weeks…I didn't sense him once; I just knew he was alive…"

"John, why are you telling me this?" Elizabeth sighed as she looked up at her Military Commander.

"It's just…I don't know…its weird seeing him this good."

"John, he's happy about this, let it be…"

"So are you and…" John paused.

"That is none of your business, Colonel Sheppard," replied Elizabeth with a soft smirk.

"Uh huh…So, has he actually, you know, popped the question?"

"John, he asked me out officially, we just started becoming a couple. It's a little early to be thinking about anything else at the moment."

"Right…well I should probably go get something to eat…You wanna come?" muttered John.

"Uh, sure. Rodney just told me he was doing dinner with Teyla to tell her about the three weeks, I told him I'd see him afterwards. John, listen to me, your brother loves you and if there's anything to tell, he will tell you when he's ready."

"Yeah…"

"It's new for you isn't…this whole waiting thing," Elizabeth said grinning.

"Huh?"

"Lets face it, John, for the first time in the nearly three years we've been here, he has the secret and you want to be told all about it."

"Do I do this all the time to him?"

"Frequently…Dinner?" she said smiling at him.

"You know when we were kids, Rodney beat me at everything in Academics, always. He was always smarter than me, didn't matter how hard I tried, even if it was a single point. He always beat me…"

"You always beat him in athletics, though?"

"Oh yeah, Rodney didn't have much coordination…"

"Give him time, maybe he just wants to tell everyone in his own way. So far, I'm the only other person he's told that I know of."

"Carson doesn't know?" That surprised John; he figured the physician would have been the first person Rodney told: they were the best of friends.

"Not to my knowledge."

"Oh…" the Colonel said simply.

John was fairly sure that by the next morning Carson did know. Because Rodney wasn't in his room until nearly two in the morning, which meant they'd enjoyed a chess game together before calling it a night.

Elizabeth was right, Rodney would tell him when he was ready. He just hoped that meant soon, he wanted to know, too. He sighed as he finished strapping his bag onto his back.

"Colonel?" Elizabeth called from the control room.

"We're ready," Sheppard said quickly. Looking at his fellow teammates, sure that they were indeed ready to go, he gave the sign to dial the gate.

"Be safe," Elizabeth called before they all disappeared into the horizon.

"Okay…lets do some exploring," spoke John as he took the lead, Rodney stepped up beside him, Ronan and Teyla remained back slightly. "How you doing?" John managed to finally ask.

"I'm doing…fine…"

"Really?" John asked looking over at his brother.

"Yeah, actually, listen John, trust me," Rodney whispered.

"Last time you said that to me, you…" He stopped, it wasn't fair to use his brother's words like that, but even before he could stop himself he saw the look of hurt on his brother's face, "I'm sorry Rod."

"Yeah…" murmured Rodney.

"Colonel…" Teyla called from behind with a tone that brokered no argument and made the hairs on John's neck rise.

They all froze, listening close; then he heard it, the annoying howl of a dart not far from them.

"We must get out of sight," whispered Teyla.

"It's coming closer, run!" Ronan bit as he shoved Rodney forward.

The team of four began to run back towards the gate. John turned back around to see the Dart coming over their heads, and its beam scouring the ground.

"JOHN!" yelled Rodney.

Sheppard saw the ground before he saw anything else, and then felt pain sear through his forehead, before his world went black.

Rodney looked up above him; the dart had gone as quickly as it had appeared. He quickly shook his brother. "John…" Rodney whispered.

"What's wrong?" Teyla questioned.

"He's unconscious," Rodney murmured in horror as he looked down at his brother's limp body, blood trickling from his temple.

"How is he Carson?" Elizabeth asked softly as they stood around John's bed.

"He's going to be fine. He's got a doosey of a concussion, and he'll have a bad headache when he wakes up. But for now, we're going to let him rest under supervision, and he should wake by tomorrow or the next day. He'll be fine."

"John, Rodney, time to wake up!" Lauren Shepard called from the bottom of the stairs.

John let out a sound akin to a moan about school, before managing to drag his dark hazel eyes open. "I hate Mondays," he grumbled as he pulled himself out of bed. He blindly grabbed the pants at the end of his bed and pulled them over his Marvin the Martian boxers.

He moved downstairs and took the toaster strudel his mother was handing him as he and Rodney headed out of the house, grabbing their bags on the way.

The ride to school was short and as always quiet. Rodney was not normally a morning person, so he rarely spoke. And John was only half awake in the early morning, requiring all the half attention to be focused on the ride and a small part on the sustenance in his hand.

John turned into the school parking lot ten minutes later, parking his black truck in between the red and light blue cars, it was their thing. They all parked next to each other to protect their cars, and probably even each other without realizing it.

"Ready?" John asked looking at his brother and best friend.

"Mondays suck," muttered Rodney as they stepped out of the truck and grabbed their bags. Moments later they made their way into Atlantis High School.

Students crowded in the hallways, talking as loud as they could, to be heard over the rest of the talking students. John didn't quite understand why the others didn't realize that if they talked quietly at once, they wouldn't be so loud.

Within seconds of entering the building their friends' faces came into view. "You guys were almost late. The bell's gonna ring any minute," commented Elizabeth as she pressed a kiss to Rodney's cheek.

"As if watching my folk's do that isn't enough," mumbled John as he closed his eyes to the image of the girl he had known since he was five, kissing his brother.

"You're just jealous," grinned Rodney.

"You wanna go," bit John.

The bell rang out loudly, interrupting their normal fight. It seemed like these two were fighting every day, but then they were brothers. Perhaps it was just a part of their lives. The six friends broke up and headed off in their own directions.

Carson had just recently moved to the states from Scotland, and was pleased at how easily he seemed to get along with Rodney. The two had math together first period with Mr. Mitchell. Teyla and Elizabeth had a class together, while John and Ronan had a class together.

The first few periods seemed to go fast and John was thankful when lunch finally arrived. He'd spent the entire day being ribbed mercilessly from the Wraith, specifically Steve and Bob, the head of the Wraith gang.

John was line backer on the Varsity Football team. Coach O'Neill had recruited both he and Ronan earlier this year when he had suspended Steve, the leader of the Wraith, after he got into a fight with another football player during Mr. Jackson's history class.

John sighed as he swung his leg over one of the benches, plopping down beside his younger brother who was immersed in his physics homework already. "You're not eating?" John asked, worry evident in his voice.

"No…not hungry," Rodney replied as he looked at a couple more equations then continued writing.

"Oh, no," John said, shaking his head. He snatched Rodney's pencil from his hand and slid his lunch in front of his brother. He didn't miss the glare his brother shot him, but chose to ignore it.

Carson and Elizabeth joined the table, sitting beside Ronan and Teyla. John grinned out and stole one of Carson's fries, who simply rolled his eyes.

"Had a little chat with your buddy, Steve," mumbled Rodney between gulps of his brother's food, proving just how hungry he really was.

"He didn't hurt you, did he?" John asked in concern.

"No…but he's pretty pissed off."

"Doesn't like being shown up by someone younger than him," Ronan offered.

"Yeah well, he got his own ass kicked off the team for getting into the fight. I wasn't even in the class."

"No, but I'm fairly sure he blames you," grinned Rodney.

"You guys wanna come over and work on Mr. Jackson's history project due next week?" John asked changing the subject.

"Probably won't hurt to get a head start on it. You're mum cooking?" grinned Carson.

"I'm sure you could talk her into it…she likes you more than she likes Rod," joked John.

"Bite me," Rodney mumbled through a piece of sandwich in his mouth.

"Are you sure you really wanna spend the rest of your life with that?" John asked pointing at Rodney.

Elizabeth shrugged and smiled, "Won't know if I don't try."

"You are so weird," mumbled John.

"So what do you plan on doing with Steve?"

"No clue. I'll let O'Neill know about it, let him deal with the ass."

"They're a gang John, the Wraith don't exactly back down," Rodney replied.

"I know that Rodney, but thanks for reminding me," ground John.

"Any time," Rodney retorted, rolling his eyes in exasperation.

The six friends made their way to John and Rodney's house. Lauren heard them long before her eldest child burst through the door, announcing their presence.

"I'm not deaf, Jonathan," called Lauren as she stepped into the foyer and smiled at his friends.

"Hi Mrs. Sheppard," the four friends greeted.

"Would you guys like some snacks?"

"Sure," they all complied as they headed into the living room.

Lauren chuckled as she listened to her two boys bicker. Things had certainly changed in just a few years. Rodney was sixteen, he'd been with the Sheppard's for nearing seven years now and she could tell he loved being here. No matter how much the two boys argued and yelled at one another, Lauren could hear the lack of anger and contempt in their voices.

John had been friends with Elizabeth since they had been younger. Then one day, Rodney came in and changed everyone's life, especially little Elizabeth; who had fallen for Rodney instantly on sight.

Then Teyla had arrived shortly after Rodney, in the seventh grade. John had instantly taken to her and she joined the group, making it an even four. Then there was sweet Carson who had joined the group just over a year ago. Lauren hadn't been surprised when Carson and Rodney instantly connected; they were like two lost souls on the same path. Instantly a friendship was formed. Carson rubbed off greatly on Rodney, mellowing him out, calming him down and bringing him to the brink of normalcy of most teenagers. While Rodney gave Carson confidence and personal strength.

Finally, Ronan had joined at the beginning of this school year, moving in from Hawaii. He was a sweet boy, although some what intimidating, and had replaced Aiden who had been forced to move because of his father's job yet again.

They were quite a group, Lauren had to admit. Six very unlikely friends, but all very similar and each had their own strength to add to the group. Lauren couldn't ask for better friends for her two sons.

"Hey, mom, can Carson and Ronan spend the night?" John called from in the living room.

Lauren chuckled as she walked into the living room, handing out the sandwiches she had made and sodas. "As long as they call their parents," she replied. It seemed like the four boys were always spending the night at someone's house, but Lauren was fairly sure it had to do with the movies they watched. The girls never watched them, leaving the four boys to watch them when the girls weren't around. Lauren didn't mind, she felt that the boys needed to bond just as much as girls usually did, so she always allowed it.

By seven in the evening all the parents had been called and they would be staying for dinner. It was near nine when the girls finally headed over to Elizabeth's house for their own sleepover. The boys kept talking; they popped in the Star Wars movie.

It was nearing midnight when her husband finally mentioned the idea of getting some sleep since it was a school night. Lauren smiled as Luke slipped into the bed beside her. "Sleeping?" she asked.

"Rodney looked asleep when I mentioned it; I think Carson will be joining him quickly. Ronan also looks pretty wiped out, and I'd say our Johnny is finally running short on energy. They'll be asleep before the hour," he smiled.

"I love them so much Luke, I just can't believe how fast they're growing," Lauren whispered.

"We've got a few more years," grinned Luke. But the truth was, they really didn't. John would turn eighteen two weeks after graduation and Rodney would turn seventeen days before the graduation. John was planning on signing up for the Air Force the day after he turned eighteen. Rodney had already been accepted to several Ivy League schools, and had chosen Stanford. They'd have to live with the fact that they're boys were all grown up.

"Don't my love; we've got them for a little longer. Besides, they'll always be out little boys."

"Seven years just doesn't seem adequate for one little boy."

"Maybe, but you changed the life of that one little boy. You gave him something he's never had before, a reason to live."

"Goodnight Luke."

"Night sweetheart," Luke whispered pressing a kiss to her forehead.

Tuesday was the day they all remained after school for some sort of function or another: Teyla had cheerleading squad, she was the Captain this year, Elizabeth had the Debate team, Rodney and Carson were on the math team, and Ronan stayed with John for football.

Rodney sat in the classroom, laughing as he and several other of his friends gathered around the table joking about some of the latest gossip when Calvin Kavanagh, one of the many fellow math kids on the team, and a particularly annoying student hurried into the room.

"Dr. Carter's lookin' for you, Rodney," the pony tailed teenager said.

"Okay," Rodney had a crush on the physics teacher; this was no news to anyone.

"Want me to come?" Carson asked.

"Nope, I'll be up in a minute. If Mr. Mitchell asks, tell him I'll be right back," grinned Rodney as he quickly headed out of the room.

Mr. Mitchell's room was right at the edge of the stairs to the second floor, and Dr. Carter's was right at the end of the hallway on the first floor, so he didn't have to go far. He made his way down the stairs but didn't get much further than a few feet from the stair case when he felt a hand grab his mouth. Rodney's eyes went wide with fear as he came face to face with Bob, the second member of the Wraith.

"No fighting Roddy," laughed Steve quietly as they dragged him back under the stairs.

"Where's McKay?" Mr. Mitchell asked as he stepped back into the classroom.

"Calvin came in here saying that Dr. Carter wanted to see him," replied Carson casually.

"Ah…that's not right. Dr. Carter left nearly an hour to get home, to see her father…" Mr. Mitchell replied.

"Oh no," came Radek's whisper.

"What?" Mitchell asked.

"The Wraith…they've spent the past week …"

Radek was interrupted seconds later by a loud scream from the first floor and a cry for help. Carson was the first one to get up from his seat, Mr. Mitchell right behind him.

"I…I just found him," cried Elizabeth as she knelt next to Rodney's beaten and bruised body.

"Radek! Go get John!" yelled Carson as he dropped to his best friend's side.

"John...John!" came a frantic voice, two hazel eyes slowly slid open to see the concerned faces of Rodney and Carson.

"Where…?" John began.

"Easy lad, you're in the infirmary. You hit your head on a rock…gave yourself quite the concussion," answered Carson as he pressed his hand against his friend's shoulder to keep the lad down on the bed.

"Oh…wow...that was some dream," mumbled John.

"Are you all right?" Rodney asked gently.

"Uh…I will be…where is everyone?" John asked, quietly noticing the infirmary was fairly dark and empty.

"It's two in the morning, nearly everyone is asleep. Teyla put JJ to bed around ten."

"How long have I been out?"

"Thirty-six hours lad, but you're going to be just fine."

"You wanna talk about it?" Rodney asked as Carson went on about some of his duties before moving into his office.

"I…do you remember our senior year when you got beat up?"

"Yeah…"

"I had this dream that we were all in high school…all of Atlantis, and that the Wraith were the gang …and they beat you up…"

"John, I'm fine…"

"I know…it's just—I've always had to protect you…" whispered John.

"John, I don't require your protection. I accept it, you're my brother, and you need to protect me as much as I protect you."

"I'm not used to the idea of you being able to defend yourself," muttered John as he looked at his brother.

"I could always lose my ability to fight," grinned Rodney.

"Don't go doing that…I'm not…I don't know what I am…tired I suppose," mumbled John.

"With good reason. Look, John, I'll always need someone to protect me, and you're my brother…Sometimes I'm going to need you and sometimes I won't, you knew that growing up. Tell you what, close your eyes and I'll tell you all about the Calen'ie," offered Rodney.

"I'll fall asleep…"

"I'll fill in the spaces later, close your eyes."

"Rod…" John searched his brother's ocean colored eyes for a moment.

"Me too," replied Rodney as he gripped his brother's hand and offered a small smile, "me too."