Hello, Stargate Lovers!

We are finally at the end of season 4. And 4x20 is one of my favourites!

However, there is one thing I like to point out in this episode: if Sheppard was missing for twelve days and Rodney and Lorne knew he placed the right gate address to get back to Atlantis, how did he not thought about checking for solar flares during those days while he was missing? And I say this because of the dialogue John, Sam and Rodney have after he gets back from the future. So, I sort of address this a tiny bit.

Also, I cannot believe it's been a year since I started this journey, with a few hiccups in between, but posting regularly since June as been helping my mental health a little after the loss I had.

So, thank you for staying with me, and reading this story, and a special thank you for those who review it, and favourited this story and my little writing nook.

Let's finish this season, so I can start on the other one - good (and frustrating) moments are coming!

Oh, and HAPPY NEW YEAR! Hope it's a good one on your side!

Chapter 32: Chapter 4x20

"What do you mean, he's missing?" Rodney kept going back and forth that question.

Samantha Carter gave him an exasperated look, her eyes finding Ronon, then Jennifer and eventually Alexandra's back as she stared out the window after the news that Major Lorne brought.

"Is there anything we can do, Col. Carter?" Jennifer asked, turning to her commanding officer.

"Wherever could he possibly be, if he dialed Atlantis? Are you sure he placed the right gate address?" Rodney turned to Evan.

"Yes. I saw it myself, doc."

"Well, if he went missing after entering the wormhole, that only means one thing." Samantha turned to the other scientist.

"Yes, yes. I know... Something similar happened with your team once. When you went into the past."

"Right." The commanding officer nodded.

"Then, let's get him back." Alexandra's voice sounded for the first time in ten minutes.

"I don't know how! There's so many variables, I need to figure out if it was our sun or the other planet's sun that caused him to travel. And if he traveled backwards or forward." Rodney continued, angry.

"Dammit, Rodney!" The younger scientist turned back to the group staring at her. "Just do it. Find him!" There was a commanding tone as she exited the office to find a quiet place to think.

"What is wrong with her?! I don't answer to her." Now, he was surprised at the sudden outburst from the other woman.

"McKay!" Samantha looked at him. "Just do it. Before something else happens." And with that, she followed her friend's path.

Three days.

"Alex." Samantha's voice pulled her out of her thoughts as she read some documents other teams kept bringing her. It was a way to keep her mind off what was currently happening.

"Hey, Sam. Something's wrong? Are there any leads?"

"Nothing yet. But McKay found the flare that caused the traveling in time. He's trying to figure out if John went forward or back."

Alexandra nodded. She wished there was something tangible she could do.

"Is there anything you would like to talk about?" The colonel sat in one of the free chairs in her friend's office that was currently in disarray. "You've been awfully quiet for the past few days."

"I don't know what to do. It's like... I have these powers, but I can barely use them. Not without alerting the Ancients or exerting myself, even though my healing capability is faster."

"Yeah, about that..." Samantha started and immediately stopped upon the serious look Alexandra sent her way.

"Sam..."

"It's John, isn't it?"

For a moment, the scientist went quiet. Her eyes avoiding Samantha's as the other woman observed her.

"Sam, you don't have to worry. Not like before, not like when it was with... Listen, I know what to do now. I'm trying to keep him safe."

"From what exactly?"

"From the Ancients. From... me."

"Alex... you are falling for him."

Alexandra rolled her eyes, not from embarrassment, but from being upset at the interrogation.

"Don't give me that look. I can see that you are. And I'm sure a few other people can see that. At least those who know you two better. And, Alex, he's smart enough to see it too. Trust me. And to act upon it if he wants to..."

"He kissed me... I... We kissed, Sam." Alexandra looked away again.

The Atlantis leader sat closer to her friend now. She heard the flutter in her voice.

"It was later. After what Kal did to him." The scientist continued, blurting it all out. "And it was good. And simple. And complicated at the same time. Like you said once, it was so easy to fall for him."

"Alex..." Samantha grabbed her friend's hand and squeezed it, giving her some comfort to her predicament. "You should tell him. Or he won't understand from what you'll try to protect him..."

In a moment of weakness, Alexandra found comfort in one of her best friend's hugs.

Nine days.

John was still missing.

And her feet kept going round and round in her usual spot by the ocean.

The sound was not drowning her thoughts like usual.

She kept thinking and rethinking options. It was killing her that she couldn't find him. And not even her powers were able to track him since she had no starting point at the moment.

And Atlantis needed him. Teyla needed him. They needed him to find her.

And they needed her to find him.

So, there was only one thing left to do.

48.800 years into the Future.

"Wait... What about Alex?" John stepped into the cryo pod. Rodney words kept ringing in his mind and he still couldn't believe it. How could that happen to him? And what about the things his friends had gone through.

He felt that everyone would just go on with their lives without him. He was not important.

Hologram Rodney stared at John for a moment.

"As far as I know, after I left Atlantis with Jennifer, she stayed behind. She..." Rodney sighed. "By the request of the I.O.A and Woolsey, she eventually went onto the chair in one of the times the city was engaged in battle. But, I believe, it was too much for her. The Ancients helped her ascend in the end."

"She ascended?" John couldn't believe in what he was hearing.

"She…" Rodney looked uncomfortable.

"What?" John frowned. "Rodney, just tell me!"

"When we couldn't find you, she made every single bargain with the Ancients. But they didn't help, of course. She even went to Chaya to power her abilities. But it did something to her. As if she wasn't ready for it. Her powers kept failing. So, when Woolsey asked her to use the chair to fight off the Wraith, she was too weak. She kept mumbling that something was missing."

In his mind, John kept imagining the scene. What had got into her?

"As far as I know, Lorne was with her at the end. When I last met him, he told me what happened and the last thing she said was your name. After that, I can only guess that the Ancients didn't let her help us. Or maybe... her heart was too… broken."

"What do you mean?" John frowned, not understanding.

"C'mon, John. Even I could see there was something between the two of you."

And maybe there was, the pilot thought. And to be sure he had to go back to his time, his Atlantis.

"Now, if this works, I will be waiting, right here, when you come out. There's not much time to get you through the gate, but I think we can manage it."

"And if it doesn't work?"

"Well, you won't feel a thing. Basically, you just won't wake up."

"Right."

For a moment, there was an awkward silence between the two friends.

"The past twenty five years you happen to notice who won the Super Bowl? Stanley Cup? World Series?"

"I was never really much of a sports fan." Hologram Rodney shrugged.

"Right. Had to ask."

"Good luck, John."

The pilot merely gave one last nod before being frozen.

Twelve days.

"Hey…"

John turned as he zipped up his vest. The sight in front of his eyes made his heart jump.

Hair all messed up, cheeks red as if she had been running, brown eyes bright.

Alexandra was looking at him as if she hadn't seen him the day before. Which was true, on her part.

"You're alive." She took a step closer to him, her eyes scanning every inch of him. It was unsettling, because he knew what she was doing.

"Alex..."

"Shut up." A frown was appearing on her brow.

"I already got my medical back. I'm okay. I'm not a clone. The telomere thingies..." John stepped closer to her, still getting his gear ready.

"I know. Just..." Her voice was softer now.

"Double checking?"

The scientist finally looked up at him as he interrupted her scan of his body for any injuries or changes.

"John..."

"Please tell me you didn't do anything foolish." It had been twelve days, after all.

"Like?"

"Like doing a bargain with the Ancients."

"Why would I bargain with the Ancients, Sheppard?"

"Because of me. To find me."

"Why would I do that? They're sneaky little…"

"Bastards. I know." John ended with a smile which she returned, relieved.

For a moment, they stared at each other. Then, Alexandra gave one final step and pulled him down for a hug, which surprised him. Immediately, his arms embraced her back, letting the tiredness flow out of his body. Her touch, her warmth, her scent... Even if it was for a little while, he enjoyed it.

"I'm glad you're okay, John." She said softly and quietly, which made him hug her a little tighter. "That you're back."

"I'm glad I'm back too." Slowly, he pulled away from her with a soft look in his hazel eyes and he had the sudden urge to lean down and just kiss her. Make sure he was actually back and it wasn't a dream. Tell her everything he knew, everything he felt.

"Well, c'mon, Sheppard." She interrupted his thoughts, for there was one pressing matter to attend before anything else. "We got Teyla to save. I hear you know where she is. Lets kick Michael's ass."

"Now, you're talking, doc." He followed her out with a smirk.

Once in the building, the rescuing team got separated.

John and Ronon and a few other soldiers went over one side, while Lorne, Rodney and Alexandra went over to another.

[Rodney, got anything?] John asked over the radio.

"Hold on. Yeah, I got some kind of data terminal." The scientist informed.

As Rodney started to press a few buttons to understand what they had in hands, John and Ronon found a room similar to a maternity ward.

"Hold on! I'm in. Wow! Jackpot! I got everything!"

As Rodney looked over at Lorne explaning what he was reading, Alexandra approached the screen that had changed features.

"Rodney, what's that?" She pointed out.

Now, there was a beeping sound coming from the terminal.

"No, no, no... What happened?"

"Doc?" Frowning, Evan looked between the two scientists and his officers outside the room.

"It's a count down!" Rodney said.

"Colonel, it's a booby trap! We gotta get out of here now!" Evan shouted to the radio for John and Ronon to hear as bombs detonated all over.

And the building collapsed to the ground.

Ps: Thoughts?