Hello, Stargate Lovers!

Okay, "Vegas" is one of my favourite episodes ever from the show, it's not great, but it is pretty awesome, and we're able to see a little bit of what it could have been for our favourite characters if they had chosen other paths.

And John Sheppard as a detective? Sign me in!

And Walter is back!

For this episode, I actually got inspired by the similar one named "The Road Not Taken", from "Stargate - SG1", where Sam goes to another reality and sees her friends in a different way she wasn't expecting.

I do hope you enjoy my take on this one!

Chapter 55: Episode 5x19

Like his mind, or heart, or body could sense it, his hazel eyes found her entering the conference room, quietly, trying not to be noticed. But she would always be. By him.

"Hey." John whispered once she leaned against the wall next to him.

"I hope McKay doesn't notice about me being late." Alexandra whispered. "I'm surprised you're here, Sheppard."

The pilot shrugged and she shook her head with a smirk that was followed by a yawn.

"Everything okay?" John frowned when he saw her rub her neck.

"Just tired. Didn't get much sleep last night."

"Hot date?" He teased playfully, even if knowing he wouldn't be that much amused if she said yes.

"Unless you count a tablet with 5000 years as a hot date, then no. There's too much to catalog these days. And my neck been sore, from all of the hunching over." She almost pouted.

"You know, I could go over your office later and help you with that." He whispered, his eyes focused on Rodney, but with a smirk ghosting his lips at the innuendo.

Raising a brow as she glanced up at him, Alexandra knew he wasn't talking about the tablet.

Without saying anything, but feeling the surge of energy under her skin at the thought of his hands on her body, the scientist tried to keep her focus on the lecture she was there to listen alongside the other heads of the Atlantis departments about the new findings that had been discovered lately.

However, as the minutes went by, her eyes started to blur and suddenly her mind went in overdrive, seeing things in front of her that weren't there.

"John..." His name came out in a breath.

"Yeah?" The pilot was quick to catch her the moment her hand found his arm to steady herself as her body started to fall and her mind lost consciousness.

"Major O'Neill."

Alexandra opened her eyes and looked around. She had her head laying on a keyboard. Slowly, she stood from the chair, taking a moment to stare at her old uniform, with the Major insignia on it.

"Major O'Neill?"

A suit up Rodney entered the office she was in and looked at her with a frowned expression. She knew that look and it meant she was behaving odly in his eyes.

"Rodney?" Her eyes went quickly over the man.

"He's here. Woolsey brought him. Apparently, he's connecting dots he's not supposed to connect. Prepare the prisoner."

"Prisoner?"

"The wraith in cell 105. Geez, Major, sometimes I don't understand what you're doing here half the time. If only your uncle listened..." He rambled, but it wasn't his usual ramble. It seemed more like a wonder, than a hurtful joke.

"McKay…" Alexandra sighed, her eyes still adapting to the new surroundings. Nothing was familliar to her.

"Hurry up, Major!" And Rodney was gone out the door.

Seeing him go with a frown, the scientist took a deep breath. Again, she looked down at her official attire, the stars, the office that was more like a lab, the computer in front of her. Then, she sensed it. Or better yet, not sensed it. The energy underneath her skin, flowing through her veins. It wasn't there.

Then, she saw someone pass by the door and she ran, finding herself on white, clean corridors.

"Radek!" She called once she recognized the other scientist.

"Major O'Neill, Rodney told me you had to take care of the wraith."

"Right. Hum... Can you tell me who is here? Rodney seemed... excited." Which was probably not accurate, but her mind was slowly adjusting and realizing she was not in her own reality. What the hell was happening?, she thought for a second.

"The police detective that found the wraith we've been looking for. We're in Vegas, remember?"

"Vegas?"

"Yes. Major, are you feeling alright? We arrived two days ago on account of the latest reports on strange killings found in the desert."

"Right. Of course. I think I just haven't been sleeping well."

Radek looked at her strangely, as if her behaviour was not normal. Which was probably right, since she was not the one they were used to at the moment.

As the other scientist left, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Why was she still a Major, anyway? And with no powers?

"Major O'Neill." Rodney called her attention and she opened her eyes to find two men in front of her. Like the others, the man that accompanied the scientist, was the same but different.

"This is Detective John Sheppard. Sheppard, this is Major Alexandra O'Neill. She's one of our experts in Ancient knowledge."

"I am?" She was surprised that he admitted that.

"Of course." Rodney looked at her with a fond, but stern smile. "I was telling Sheppard here about some of our discoveries."

"I see." Her brown eyes stayed on John. "But isn't he… a civilian?"

"I was a pilot first, Ma'am." There was a playful tone to his voice.

"I know."

"You've read his file?" Rodney raised his brow, surprised she had done that.

"I… did. Briefly." She cleared her throat. She needed to act normal. If she was in a different reality, there must be a reason, right? Perhaps this was the task that Ganos Lal warned her about. But what was it exactly?

"Uh." Rodney was surprised but continued his tour.

Curious, Alexandra followed them, looking around the facility and hearing what McKay was saying.

"My team and I.." Rodney briefly looked back at Alexandra, which made her frown. She belonged to his team? "...usually operate out of Atlantis in the Pegasus galaxy, but we were called back to Earth to deal with this situation because of our expertise with the Wraith. Now, the one you've encountered had obviously been doing a fairly good job of blending in."

"What, disguising himself as a human?" John frowned, glancing between the two scientists.

"Based on your description and the video surveillance from the casino."

"What do they normally look like?"

As John said those words, they arrived at a closed door that opened upon Rodney's fingerprint on the keypad. The former pilot opened his eyes in surprise.

"Normally, they look like that." Rodney answered.

Alexandra looked inside the room and saw a cell made of glass, with a very well known wraith in it.

Todd.

The wraith started walking around the cell, talking, his eyes trained on John as she watched quietly.

"Keep dreaming. There must be some other reason for your existence." Todd said. "I'll show you your destiny, John Sheppard."

"They can get in your head." Rodney broke the trance John was in as he watched the wraith.

As the two men exited the room, Alexandra's brown eyes focused on the lonely, crazed wraith that had now focused his attention on her.

Shaking the odd feeling away of being observed by him, and with her thoughts swirling inside, she ended up leaving the room in silence, feeling confused and overwhelmed.

Finding her way around the building, she found the two men outside of the building, exchanging a few words, a few minutes later.

The moment he saw her, John's hazel eyes focused on hers and nodded before turning to leave.

"Detective?" She called out to him, not caring that Rodney frowned as she walked past him to get to John that had stopped by the car waiting for him. "May I ask... what happened for you to leave the Air Force? Is my understanding that you loved what you did."

"I thought you read my file, Major."

"Like I said, only briefly." Alexandra shrugged. Even if it wasn't the first time she encountered another version of the man she had feelings for, it was always strange to see the differences between them. But the eyes... the eyes were always the same.

There was a silence that told her, for a moment, he was not going to answer her.

"I went against orders. To save someone... People." He took a moment to place his sunglasses on. "In the end, it bite me in the ass." He placed his hands inside his pockets and she smiled. It was so John, that movement. The former pilot leaned his head to the side, curious at her smile. "Why, Major?"

"Curious." She shrugged. "Perhaps you should try it again... to be a hero. Given what McKay just told you."

"I'm no hero, Ma'am."

"You won't know that until you give it a try. Trust me."

For a moment, John stared at her, his sunglasses hiding his thoughts. However, Alexandra felt something, right underneath her skin.

"Would I be working with you, Major?" Taking a step closer to her, he offered a little smirk. She raised her brow. Some things would never change, even in different realities.

"Perhaps." Alexandra offered a smirk of her own.

John was curious now. His eyes went over her.

"Is there anything I should know, Ma'am?"

"If you decide to come back to our task force, perhaps I'll tell you, Detective." Then, Alexandra left, leaving John watching her go.

Hours later

Alexandra had kept herself in the control room area. For the last couple of hours, she had been reading files and reports, answering the questions as best she could. But right now her computer showed her own file and whatever ones that could help her get out of that reality.

"He thinks he's found him. How?" Suddenly, Rodney was on the phone with John, hearing him speak.

Walter sat on another computer, finding the former pilot's coordinates.

"Where is he, Sargeant?" The major stood.

"In the middle of the Nevada desert."

"Do not engate. Do you hear me?" Rodney said, before losing the call and looking back at Woolsey, Radek and Alexandra.

She sat back on the chair and closed her eyes as she kept listening.

"We have widespread power outages being reported across the state." Walter informed looking at his computer.

"Daedalus is trasmitting new sensor data." Radek continued.

"Got it. A massive subspace event." Rodney concluded.

Under her breath, Alexandra was speaking to herself. To her powers.

"C'mon… work. You need to work here." She took a deep breath. "He has the same energy. I sensed it. If you brought me here, then bring me to him. C'mon..."

"It's a transmission." It was the last thing she heard Rodney say as a light surrounded her and took her to where he was.

Once she opened her eyes, she was able to see the wraith trailer on fire and John's car was a mess.

Then, she found his body.

"No… no… no..." Alexandra ran and fell on her knees while her hands found his wounds and started to heal him. "Don't die…"

John coffed and her hands found his face.

"Major...? How did you...?" He was falling back to unconsciousness.

"Don't do that… Stay awake. Please, John." Her hands kept sending waves of healing energy now that she could feel it running through her veins again.

However, she knew her time was coming to an end. She felt weaker, wanting to close her eyes. So, she lay down next to him. One of her hands went up to his cheek. His hazel eyes were half closed but trained on her now.

"I'll tell you everything. If you keep fighting." Brown eyes never left his and she took a deep breath. "Be as stubborn as she is, flyboy. Don't let her push you away…"

At those last words, Alexandra closed her eyes.

Ps: Thoughts?