Chapter 18: A Careful Subterfuge

They stopped just long enough to drop Alex's belongings in an empty room down the hall from his own – John needed to check with Lorne to figure out where they would stash him permanently – before heading back through the corridors to the conference room. He would've left Alex behind too – but he wasn't quite ready to let the kid out of his sight.

Besides, the sheer wonder in Alex's expression as they got further away from the infirmary and deeper into the heart of Atlantis was priceless. There had been no missing the sudden realization cross his face in the gate room as Atlantis herself reached out to another strong gene carrier. Everything likely vying at the back of his mind for attention.

It meant that Alex's expression of the gene was likely as strong as his own. As strong as O'Neill's. No one else had ever mentioned the awareness at the back of the mind – and John had just grown used to it as the city slowly awoke. There was no missing that Ancient technology loved him – and apparently loved Alex just as much.

Of course, telling everyone else that… was probably a bad idea. Who knew what kind of trouble he was going to get into…

John took Alex down a circuitous route, passing by the balconies that looked out over the ocean, pausing just long enough for Alex to look his fill, without visibly stalling.

It gave him more time to gather his thoughts.

And it was beautiful around sunset.

"Let me… do the talking here," John said, as they rounded yet another corner.

Alex was half looking over his shoulder at the sunset, before he nodded. "Yeah…"

"I'm not sure what all O'Neill put in his note, but… we'll try to keep you as low profile as possible. Not everyone is going to be aware of your… background." He cleared his throat, feeling slightly apologetic. "My team will know – I can't keep all this from them, but… if you hear any lies in the upcoming meeting, just know it was sanctioned by O'Neill."

He had just thought he would have a little longer than a couple of hours to corral his thoughts into order. To figure out what could be shared and what might endanger Alex's position even more. It was a fine balance and not his forte in the slightest.

John waved Alex into yet another transporter, but paused before pressing their destination. "These are… like elevators. Just, faster. Punch a button where you want to go." He pushed the appropriate button – near the gate room – and the doors slid open to another section of wall. "Transporters. You'll learn pretty quickly where the good shortcuts are."

Alex just stared at the symbols, clearly overwhelmed. John clapped his shoulder and all but pulled him out into the hall.

They were going to have to get him up to speed sooner or later.

Maybe someone would be willing to teach him to read Ancient…

"Colonel Sheppard!" Lorne jogged up behind them and John could feel Alex tense beside him.

"Lorne…"

"Rumors have been quashed, sir. Far as everyone knows, you're back right on time and as expected." He cast a glance in Alex's direction, before falling into a parade rest. "I've set up the delegation representative in your hall and Woolsey is spitting nails that he hadn't been informed prior about all this."

Bless, Lorne.

John would gladly leave all the bullshitting up to Lorne. "Thank you, Major." Unfortunately, he needed to know just what kind of mess he was getting himself into. "And the uh, delegation representative's responsibilities?"

Lorne just gave him a butter wouldn't melt in his mouth smile. "General O'Neill has been pressured into allowing the presence of one scholastic scholar into the city for hands on learning and exposure to Ancient technology. After a lengthy selection process, O'Neill and his committee determined that a young up and coming scholar would be best suited to the adaptation of city life."

And O'Neill had included all this in one little note? That was a bit much even for him. "How much of this was already O'Neill's plan?" He asked quietly.

"The general will be aware of all the details at the next data transmission. He did suggest visiting scholar though." This time he turned fully to Alex and gave him apologetic smile. "Your… uh, qualifications may have been a bit exaggerated, but I'm sure if O'Neill felt that you would be up to the challenge, you're more than prepared."

Right. Because Alex had more than once been expected to step into a different role. John had kind of been hoping that they were going to avoid that, but…

"Sorry about Woolsey, but your sudden return unsettled him a bit. You're going to have to spin this to account for whatever the hell is happening with the Trust. Sir."

Perfect.

Thinking on his feet, while a skill he possessed, was one he tried not to implement with the leader of the expedition… "Right." He turned on his heel and started walking toward the briefing room. Thankfully, Alex followed along with little protest. It was going to be a shit show, he just knew it.

"—unfortunately, although the Drs had finished their selection interviews and selected a candidate, they hadn't yet extended the offer. A Trust operative got a hold of the list, and faster than the SGC, were able to determine that the candidate had the ATA and targeted them… erm, him." John jerked a thumb in Alex's direction, praying that he was going to be able to pull this off. He wasn't quite ready to admit that the Trust had been successful in actually kidnapping Alex either.

Rodney was studying both of them suspiciously – so that was probably a no from Rodney's court.

Woolsey just looked frustrated that he had been kept out of the loop. After all, any civilian presence was supposed to fall under the realm of the IOA. That this plan had been done around the backs of the IOA was probably frustrating.

Of course, there had been no plan so… they were just covering themselves from here on out.

"General O'Neill informed me that they were having issues with a Trust infiltration on the Daedalus and that best protocol would be to send us both through the Stargate as quickly as possible. It'll be another three months before the Daedalus makes its next trip."

"Three months!" Rodney all but shouted. "How long does it take to tell if someone's got a snake in them or not?"

"Human operatives exist," Alex cut in and everyone turned to stare at him. As if they had forgotten that they had an interloper present at the command briefing.

Rodney flushed, before sending a glare in Alex's direction. "As if you would know. You've known about the existence of the Stargate for what, one, two weeks?"

Alex pulled a rather indignant expression. "Three days, I'll have you know."

And God, had the kid always sounded so British?

"Three—Sheppard!" Ah, the last name always came out when Rodney was angry at him.

As if he had had a hand in all this.

John spread his hands in a what can you do manner. "I just take the orders from General O'Neill." And if keeping the kid safe meant that Woolsey was going to be permanently in the dark, well, John was going to do his best not to rock that boat. Rodney would calm down once he knew the truth.

Maybe.

"Colonel Sheppard," Woolsey cleaned his glasses on a handkerchief and put them back on slowly. "Shouldn't General O'Neill and his committee have consulted with the heads of department here on Atlantis before creating such a… program?"

John shrugged. "I'm sorry, but I'm not going to question the general's motives." He was definitely letting O'Neill field at least some of these questions. "Should he have, perhaps? I like to think that this was all supposed to be a much more… gradual introduction for Mr. Rider." At least three weeks on the Daedalus would've let them get their story straight before they tried to start spreading it around.

"Whatever the case, he's here now. Certified goa'uld free, too." Dr. Madsen narrowed her eyes in his direction and John carefully continued. "Now, I don't know about the rest of you, but I've had a stressful last couple of days and I'm sure Mr. Rider would like a chance to settle in before the wolves descend." He slanted a glance in Rodney's direction.

"Oh, don't look at me. It's not like O'Neill bothered to tell us anything."

John grinned and showed all his teeth. "I'm sure you're all smart enough to figure something out."

Woolsey narrowed his eyes in John's direction before pushing up from his chair. "I expect a full report about what occurred while you were on earth, tomorrow."

"Of course." Just not the classified bits. Or the part where he got shot. Or the part where he found another goa'uld out in the public… Or… Or… It was going to be heavily redacted.

And probably wouldn't fully satisfy Woolsey.

At least they had three days until the next scheduled check-in with earth. Three days to get all their stories straight.

Dr. Madsen shot another dark look in his direction, before stalking out of the room.

"What did you do to her?" Rodney asked, puzzled.

"Asked for Beckett." John leaned over and continued in a whisper, "Usual place, time, suspects."

Rodney's eyes widened for a moment, before he nodded. Then studiously turned back to his tablet as if it were the most important thing in the room. Because Rodney acting suspicious about anything was not a red flag.

John just shook his head, then nodded for Alex to follow him out of the room. After having been subjected to John's presence for the past forty-eight hours, he would probably be glad for a little space of his own. He would have to check with Teyla to see if they had any more of the Athosian blankets stashed—

Ronon was standing outside of the briefing room, arms cross, and looking fairly intimidating. He studied Alex with a careful gaze, before turning to John. "Heard you brought a kid."

"Oh, would you—" John glanced back at the briefing room, where Rodney was still hiding behind his tablet. He was about the only source that such a rumor would've gotten to Ronon so quickly. "This is Alex. Alex, Ronon. Alex is our guest for the foreseeable future. Don't scare him away when he just got here."

Ronon grunted, hand still trailing threateningly close to his blaster.

Because that was the last thing they needed.

John blew out a long breath, then pulled Alex further down the hallway. Luckily, Ronon didn't try following them. He wasn't sure he was ready for that. "Well, congratulations, you just met your first alien!"

John leaned back in his chair and studied the officer in front of him. Lieutenant Simmons had probably been expecting a promotion, news about leading a team of his own – anything that was more than the glorified babysitting he had been doing with many of the marines. But John hadn't had good news for him in that regard.

Alex needed a minder. Someone to keep him from wandering and poking at the wrong things. Equally, he needed someone to keep him out from underneath Woolsey's purview. The man had decided, in the scant four hours Alex had been on base, that Alex's presence was an affront and shouldn't be tolerated. Dr. Madsen was a staunch supporter.

Simmons was the best candidate. The youngest, greenest officer they had on the base. Not to mention, the odd one out – the only Navy officer on the base. He would know who to avoid on base and would hopefully be able to pass some of that wisdom on to Alex.

"Sir?" There had been a brief, suspicious glance in Alex's direction, before settling into a carefully blank expression.

John couldn't help the small smirk. Simmons was one of O'Neill's handpicked candidates – an oddball in the greater scheme of Atlantis. They would be perfect for each other. "Lieutenant Simmons, meet Alex, the newest intern with the science team."

"They have interns now? Sir?"

"It's a, ehm, pilot program." Because that was the best of attempting to explain any of this. "Only the best and brightest get accepted." John waved Alex into a chair and the kid dropped into it. "Alex here was supposed to come in with the next batch of recruits, but they're going to be delayed and the General wanted to appease the paper-pushers." And if that didn't set off the Atlantis rumor mill in their favor, nothing would.

"Delayed, sir?"

"Weapons errors on earth." John shrugged, as if it were unimportant. Especially since he hadn't exactly informed Woolsey of their little zat problem. "They'll be here by the New Year." Which was still a good three months away. "Alex, lieutenant Simmons will keep an eye on you when you're not in the labs. Can't have you… stumbling into trouble, can we?"

Alex just rolled his eyes. "Not my fault I'm here early," he muttered.

"And you would have the same restrictions even if you had waited." He glanced between them and couldn't help the smug satisfaction that something was going to go right here. "I need not impress how important it is to keep this quiet, but the reason Alex's application was fast tracked, was because The Trust targeted him."

Simmons' eyes widened, imperceptibly, likely finally realizing that this was a babysitting slash bodyguard assignment.

"Not my fault," Alex grumbled, "I just wanted an internship and someone intercepted the paperwork."

John didn't even blink at the interruption. "While the General doesn't think he'll be at continued risk here, better safe than sorry. And, while this will pull you from your other assignments, I'll see to it that you get a couple of rotations out with my team." And if that wasn't a good enough incentive, nothing was. There were plenty of people on Atlantis who had tried for years to get out on rotations with AR-1. John had no doubt that Simmons would one day make a great team leader and first contact specialist, he just needed a little more experience. And what better way to get it.

"You're using bribery on your subordinates?" Alex asked, shooting a suspicious glance in Simmons' direction. As if John hadn't already explained just exactly what his plan was. Or well, Lorne's plan that he had co-opted.

"Whatever works." He leaned back in his chair. "Alex, you're to report to the labs in two days. Lieutenant, Private Miller will be along to relieve you at evening shift break. Dismissed."

And because Alex clearly wasn't waiting around for anyone, he was out of the room before John even finished speaking. John didn't blame him. He was ready for some shut-eye as well.

Simmons shot off a hasty salute, before following after Alex at a rapid clip.

John waited until the door closed fully, before slumping in his chair. Maybe he could manage a few hours before the team meeting. There were too many angles to be covered and subterfuge was not his forte.

But that's what he had Lorne for.

"What the hell was that up there?" Rodney demanded the minute John arrived at the team huddle room.

John had managed about thirty minutes, after send Alex off with Simmons, before the next missive from Woolsey had come in demanding his attention.

"Next thing you know, we're going to have those stupid IOA tourists overrunning our city!"

"Calm down, Rodney," John said, pushing past him and dropping onto one of the couches.

"Calm down, calm down? I'll show you—"

Teyla entered the room and put a calming hand on Rodney's arm. "Perhaps it would be best if we let John explain." She raised a careful eyebrow at him. "I have heard… strange rumors since arriving back from the mainland."

John felt his shoulders deflate. Those were likely not the rumors he wanted to spread. And it would be late evening before Simmons headed back to his group, so it would take time for the public truth to start spreading. O'Neill was going to get a kick out of it, that was for sure.

Ronon was already picking at his nails with a knife, smug grin on his face. As if he had any idea of the truth.

"Well?" Rodney prompted.

"We're waiting for Carson and Lorne." After all, he wasn't about to let Lorne get out of this scot-free. He was responsible for at least part of the mess, by now. He was going to have to explain his brilliant plan to O'Neill.

"And this… Alex?" Teyla's voice curled strangely at the name. Somehow, they had made it through so many years without any Alexs coming on base.

"He's in his room. He's had… quite the week."

Rodney snorted and John rolled his eyes. It wasn't likely to take very long before Rodney changed his tune about Alex, but in the meantime, there was no forcing the issue.

John flicked on the large screen and selected a movie at random. There were more than enough movies that they had watched as a team previously. Anyone passing by wouldn't realize that though and it gave an excellent alibi as to why they were all gathered together. As if everyone wasn't insatiably curious about why John had only been gone for one week out of his expected four.

"What, Terminator, again?" Rodney asked indignantly.

"Just… have patience Rodney."

It was only another handful of minutes before Lorne and Carson arrived together and John mentally locked the door against any unwanted intruders. Sure, someone motivated enough could get through, but not without him being fully aware of what was happening. And not before they could rearrange the topic appropriately.

He pulled out the Ancient jammer and placed it on the table in front of the couches, then waved the others to seats.

"So, Lorne, would you like to fill in everyone who didn't make it to the command meeting about what Alex is doing here in the city?"

"Me, sir?" He looked surprised, but quelled under John's stare. "Right, uh… Alex was selected as part of a, er, prestigious program for visiting scholars. He was supposed to come to the city with the next Daedalus transport, but, uh… circumstances beyond our control with the Trust meant that he got sent back with the colonel."

"And he's what, a doctor? Of nothing?" Rodney harrumphed. "He's more baby-faced than your marines."

Lorne cleared his throat. "Not a doctor. He is currently completing his studies and O'Neill felt that—"

"Oh, O'Neill felt. Well, he should've consulted with the department heads first."

Clearly, some ruffled academic feathers.

John put a calming hand on Rodney's shoulder. "Let him finish the story."

Rodney's eyes lit up at that phrase. The story. Like he knew that there was something more.

"He's ATA positive and the Trust targeted him a little over a week ago?" Lorne raised an eyebrow in John's direction.

"Five days ago, but…" He waved it off.

"For his safety, it was decided to accelerate the, uh, start date. It necessitated a bit of subterfuge on the SGC side, meaning they couldn't notify us who or what they were sending through. There will be a full report available from General O'Neill… at some point."

That was probably going to be the part that rubbed Woolsey wrong. Because even though Lorne would be able to get the information back to O'Neill – he wouldn't be able to magic up a similar report in time for the data transfer. It would have to wait until the next one.

Hopefully O'Neill would come up with something suitable in the meantime that wouldn't ruffle any more of Woolsey's feathers…

"As far as the rest of the city is concerned, Alex is here purely because of academic pursuit," John said, eyeing each one of them individually. "In truth, there was no program developed—"

"I knew it!" Rodney shouted.

"However," John glared in Rodney's direction. "If the truth of why Alex is on the city gets out, he may be in even more danger. We're trying to keep the Trust from having an even greater interest in him." Or to have a chance at implanting him again. He doubted they would waste any time if the opportunity presented itself again.

"They've targeted him because of his background and knowledge – and because he has the ATA gene. We… had an unfortunate encounter with a goa'uld when we were trying to gather his belongings and it was… implied that the Trust had tried to implant him with a symbiote. Thankfully, unsuccessfully."

There were matching looks of horror on Rodney and Carson's faces. The lack of reaction from Teyla and Ronon wasn't unsurprising – their interactions and knowledge of the goa'uld were still fairly limited.

Teyla leaned forward. "There has been mention that Alex appears… rather young."

John rubbed a hand across his face. "He's sixteen—"

"And O'Neill expects us to keep a kid alive?" Rodney all but shouted. "Did he forget about the Wraith?" He waved a wild hand around the room. "The Trust is a threat, yes, but we're literally at war with at least a quarter of the galaxy here."

"He's got a point," Ronon intoned.

"Even your baby-faced marines can't keep up with it sometimes. O'Neill sent someone with no skills out here, when he should still be… be calculating integrals and contemplating which girl to take to the winter prom!"

John grit his teeth. "Yes, Rodney, do tell me what you were doing at sixteen?"

"Why, I—" He huffed indignantly. "You know as well as I do that genius is far different from average schoolboy. He's more naïve about the real world than the Athosian children his age."

John pinched his brow. "That average schoolboy was blackmailed by his government to work as a spy for nearly two years, then dropped as soon as it became politically inconvenient." He clenched his fists, knowing that Alex would hate this invasion of privacy, but it was the only way. "Average schoolboy has been living on his own for the past year, watching his back because he has enemies beyond just the Trust. He didn't know anything about all this, but someone he trusted tipped the Trust off about his existence and almost had him killed."

"John," There was a soft, shocked sound from Teyla. "Surely your people…"

"He's not American! That's, that—" Rodney spluttered.

"Yes, Rodney, because only Americans can do horrible things in the name of patriotism."

Rodney all but wilted back against the couch. "You're telling us that he— That they—"

"Forced him to do things at an age when most militaries of the world wouldn't even look twice at him? Yes." And John knew he had hardly scratched the surface with what he knew about Alex. The kid had quirks upon quirks and was a master at blending in. Even the few minutes John had seen him interacting with Simmons had been enough to see that. "And he has quite a few issues stemming from it." Understandably so.

"That's why you let him get away with no sub cue," Carson said, understanding dawning on his face.

John let out a long breath. "Look, I've only gotten very vague explanations of what happened with him. O'Neill promised to send whatever Byrne has collected with the next data burst, but… Byrne is CIA. He only knows a small piece of the picture."

"So, it was MI6?" Carson asked.

"Yep."

"Oh, bloody—" He cut himself off, shaking his head. "There were always rumors that you just did not work for them. But usually if they came knocking on your door, it was already too late. The poor lad…"

"Well, he's our problem now." And he was definitely including the rest of them in that we. They were the only ones who had any idea of the true story – so it would be up to them to make sure that the cover didn't break. "The Trust tried to implant him and now we've found the issue with the zats."

"Zats?" Lorne asked, perking up.

John waved it off. "Rodney's working on it, need to know basis." He wasn't about to get Lorne mixed up in that particular problem at this point. Someone needed some plausible deniability. "Just… If you see anyone with a zat outside a lab, shoot them first because on base usage is being restricted. And you really don't want to get shot."

Thankfully, they had very few zats on the city in the first place. Two, if he remembered correctly. At least, legally. He wasn't going to risk anyone getting shot though, especially not with the side-effects on non-ATA carriers being known.

"This is like mini-me all over again. Mini-me 2.0," Rodney dropped his head into his hands and mumbled through his fingers. "He's a trouble magnet, isn't he? And I was so enjoying the peaceful life…"

"You mean after Sheppard got kidnapped?" Ronon scoffed. "That was only because he was off city."

Rodney peeked through his crossed fingers and glared at him. "So, what does O'Neill expect us to do with a teenager? An earth teenager?" He added at Teyla's raised eyebrow. As if they were a completely different species.

"The visiting scholar might have been a cover for him, but he was promised that he'd be able to continue his studies."

"Are we running a high school now?"

John smirked. "Alex has almost finished a full year of his engineering degree."

That got Rodney to perk up. After all, engineering wasn't a soft science. "So, he is hiding some brains under all that hair."

Ronon grunted in his direction. "You got something to say about hair?"

Rodney flinched back and John decided he better step in before it devolved into petty insults. "Did I mention he has a strong expression of the ATA gene?"

Rodney snapped his fingers in quick succession. "That's why he looked like he wasn't paying any attention during the meeting. Good lord, he had better not—"

"I already gave him some ATA 101. He knows not to go poking things."

"Well knowing and doing are two different things…" He side eyed John, clearly thinking of the multiple devices that had perked up just because he walked into the room. No doubt, there were going to be some similar experiences with Alex.

"Which is why he's going to have an escort." Indefinitely if they had to. "And I figured you might have someone in the labs that could use his… light switch abilities."

A gleeful expression crossed Rodney's face. "Yes, yes, I'm sure Zelenka would be more than happy to…" He paused and studied John closely for a moment. "You're not trying to foist him off on the science labs, are you? We do have work to do."

John raised his hands placatingly. "Prospective engineer, hanging out with the engineers and other scientists? Seems like a no-brainer to me."

"Perhaps it would be best to create a rotation," Teyla suggested, "So he is not taking up too much of any one person's time. And if he is just starting his studies… it might be a wise idea to ensure he has a good understanding of the basics."

John relaxed back into the couch. There were only the smaller details to get figured out and Teyla would be quick to point out any possible flaws. With a little bit of luck, they would be able to pull it all off and no one would be the wiser.

Especially not the Trust.

A/N: Hello… Haven't fallen off the face of the earth, I swear. Currently have a six-year-old staying with me, so life is a bit more… hectic than usual. These updates will come (and I'm trying for those two weeks, I swear) eventually though. And now they're officially on Atlantis! Looks like John has a bit of a mess to deal with though… What do you think Alex is going to find in the city?