Archive of Our Own

John found Rodney sitting on their pier, the one they went to when Rodney was suffering from the affects of the parasite that made him lose his intelligence. Just like that time, Rodney seemed sad and contemplative, staring out over the water sightlessly.

John nudged him with a toe. When Rodney looked up, surprised, John handed him a beer before taking a seat beside him. The ocean could be heard far below, creating a soft music of its own as it lapped against the walls of the city.

“What’s up, buddy?” John popped the tab of his beer.

Rodney was silent long enough that John thought he might not answer. But he finally popped the tab on his own beer. He took a long swallow before saying, “Jennifer is taking a position with a hospital here on Earth.”

It might have just been the movement of the city with the waves, but John felt as if the world around him rocked. He didn’t even know what to say. He finally went with, “Wow.”

“Yeah,” Rodney's shoulders slumped; he was the very picture of morose. “She said that when Atlantis goes back to Pegasus she wants to stay here on Earth to be with her dad."

"Atlantis isn't for everyone," John worked hard so that his feelings didn't bleed into his voice. He didn't want Rodney to stay on Atlantis out of duty if his heart was with Keller.

Rodney took another long drink of his beer before he said, "She asked me to marry her.”

The drink that John took came snorting out his nose. It wasn’t pleasant.

He wanted to be happy for Rodney, he really did. He wasn’t one of those assholes that wanted other people to be unhappy just because they couldn’t have what or who they wanted. The thing he really wanted most of all was Rodney’s happiness. So he tried to infuse his voice with all the good cheer he could muster when he said, “That’s great, buddy, really.”

Rodney didn’t seem to notice the lack of enthusiasm in his voice. “The thing is,” Rodney said, “Jennifer is a really great person. I mean, my god, how many hot 26-year-old women are knocking on my door asking me to marry them?”

John bumped Rodney’s shoulder, “Come on, McKay, you’re a great catch. She’s lucky to have you.”

Rodney snorted and took a drink. “You’d think that, wouldn’t you?” There was a long pause as they were both lost in their thoughts.

John’s thoughts were full of Atlantis without Rodney. He couldn’t begrudge Rodney this chance at happiness. He wouldn’t. But he wouldn’t leave Atlantis just because Rodney wasn't there. Atlantis was the first place where John had truly felt like he belonged, where he was needed, where he fit.

But Atlantis without Rodney? That thought would take some getting used to. John wasn’t even sure they could survive without Rodney. He had a lot of faith in Zelenka, but Rodney was the glue that held Atlantis together.

“I told her no,” Rodney took another drink, his hand curled around the can loosely, his gaze distant.

“I… what? Why?” John spluttered.

Rodney shrugged. “We wanted different things. I want a Nobel Prize; she wants me to be nice. I want to save the city; she wants me to get along with people.” His voice spoke of a world of hurt.

“The right person will come along someday,” John tried to sound reassuring and supportive. It was hard when all he really wanted to do was pull Rodney in close and reassure him in other ways.

A half smile formed on Rodney’s lips, but it didn’t reach his eyes, “Yeah, sure,” he took another pull on his beer. “And someday the Wraith will be our peace-loving neighbors.”

John, ever the optimist, said, “It could happen,” in an overly earnest way.

Rodney just shrugged.

Maybe it was the effects of the beer, maybe it was the moonlight and the waves, but John took a deep breath and said, “I’m sorry about Jennifer, Rodney, but I’m not sorry that you’re not leaving Atlantis. It wouldn’t be the same without you.” John ducked his head; he took a drink to avoid the gaze of Rodney’s eyes. “And for the record? I like you just the way you are. Don’t ever change.”

There was a long silence with just the sound of the waves and the calling of the birds. Somewhere far away a boat's whistle sounded out on the bay.

“John?” Rodney’s voice was questioning.

John swallowed hard and twisted to look at Rodney. He tried to let a little of what he felt show through because he thought that Rodney needed to know that someone cared about him just the way he was. He didn’t know what Rodney saw, but a shy grin broke out over his face.

“You’re stuck with me, you know that, right? You had your chance to say good bye and you wouldn’t take it. So, now you’re stuck with me, Sheppard, just accept it.”

John grinned back, “That sounds about right.”

~~~~~~

The next morning at breakfast there was no sign of Rodney’s dark mood from the night before. In fact there was no sign of anything wrong at all, which was weird. Rodney had been plagued with fits of depression for a couple of weeks after he and Katie Brown had broken up.

John went through the breakfast line filling his plate. The upside to being on Earth was real eggs and bacon and hash browns. John loved hash browns, especially when they were a little crispy around the edges, just the way they were this morning. He grabbed a real banana nut muffin while he was at it.

He headed toward the balcony where he heard the sound of laughter coming from the direction of their table out on the balcony.

John slid into his chair across from Rodney in time to hear him say, ”And then Radek said, ‘Maybe you shouldn’t kill him today, Rodney. He is scheduled to do maintenance on desalination tanks next week.’ I swear it’s the only thing that saved his life.” Rodney’s face lit up at the sight of John.

John’s heart might have sped up a little at the thought that Rodney was happy to see him.

But then Rodney said, “Muffin!” He snatched said muffin off of John’s tray, pinching a bit off the top to pop into his mouth. “Mmmm… My favorite,” he chewed and swallowed with enthusiasm. “Thanks.”

John didn’t tell Rodney that he hadn’t gotten the muffin for him. He had. He absolutely had. That was his story and he was sticking to it.

He bent over his plate trying to ignore Rodney’s happy little noises and moans as he finished up the muffin.

“Does anyone know what the meeting with the IOA today is about?” Teyla asked. She set her tray down next to Rodney shaking her napkin out.

John shrugged, pushing his eggs around with his fork. “I don’t. No one will tell me anything.”

“I have a bad feeling about it,” Rodney intoned, his mouth full of the last of the muffin.

“You have a bad feeling about everything, McKay,” Ronon announced. He leaned in even though they were the only ones out on the balcony. “Has anyone noticed that there’s an awful lot of strangers around here lately?”

“We’re on Earth right now, Ronon, the IOA is bound to want to take a look,” Rodney waved his fork, scrambled eggs flying everywhere.

“Rodney!” Teyla gave him a reproachful look. “Ronon is right. It does feel like there are very many new people here.”

“We’ll have to take you out on the town some time,” John smiled at her. “If you think this is a lot of people, wait until you see San Francisco.”

Teyla turned her eyes to the distant shoreline where they could just glimpse the city. Muffled in a cover of fog, it looked very mysterious. “I must confess that I am very curious about your world, John. You have told us so much about it. It is all very… fascinating.”

John nodded decisively, “We’ll go today, after the meeting. It’ll be good to get out of the city for awhile.”

Even Rodney nodded like he thought it was a good idea.

"I've got a lot of work to get done today if we're going to go out on the town tonight." Rodney grabbed his empty tray and headed toward the door. "See you guys at six in the jumper bay." He called to them as he disappeared into the hall.

"Rodney seems very happy today," Teyla commented thoughtfully.

John shrugged. "What can I say, he's a happy guy."

Teyla turned to eye him with speculation. Nothing good could come from that. "You also seem to be in good spirits," she observed.

John shrugged, doing his best to radiate innocence. "What can I say? I'm a happy kind of guy."

Teyla's brow lifted, but she didn't tell him that he was a big fat liar.

~~~~~

It turned out Rodney’s instincts were right on.

John arrived for the IOA's meeting ten minutes early so he could get a good seat. The conference room, really an auditorium in order to accommodate everyone, was rapidly filling up. John was proud to see that pretty much everyone from Atlantis was there; already it was standing room only.

He spied Lorne standing against the back wall. John started to go stand next to him when Rodney called out to him from where was sitting near the front, in the center of a row. Teyla sat next to him with Ronon sprawled in a chair beside her.

Watching for John’s arrival, Rodney stood, waving his arms wildly over his head pointing at the empty seat next to him. There were snickers from those in the crowd who knew John and Rodney. There were disapproving frowns from the IOA and the Air Force brass who didn’t know them.

John jerked his head to indicate he was going to sit with Rodney. Lorne did his best to smother an amused grin with a ‘go on’ wave of his hand.

Rodney needed someone to keep him under control, John told himself. It was the only reason he was making his way to the front of the room, climbing over people to get to the place Rodney had saved for him. If the IOA denied Rodney’s requests for more funding, things were liable to get ugly.

Looking around, John saw that there was a whole boat load of IOA dignitaries in attendance, many whom he’d never even met before. Officials from every country that had an interest in the Stargate program were also in attendance. A cold lump started to form in the bottom of John’s stomach.

John slid into his seat just as the president of the IOA stood to speak. She was a tall, elegant woman - pretty much exactly like John would picture the head of an international coalition to look. Her manner was polished and professional as she made her way to the podium. She smiled and put her hand on the occasional shoulder, leaning in to speak quietly to people as she passed.

Taking her place at the podium, the President folded her hands. She regarded the room gravely for a few moments waiting for silence. John felt the coldness in his gut creeping outward. McKay fidgeted in the seat next to him. He hadn’t been allowed to bring his lap top to keep him occupied, so his attention span was going to be a problem.

Around them the last few stragglers arrived. They took their place in the last few seats in the back of the room or standing against the wall, wherever they could find space. Fidgeting stopped and conversation ground to a halt.

Once the room was as silent as it was going to be, the president spoke, “The IOA would like to thank all of you for everything you have done to protect Earth and both the Milky Way and Pegasus Galaxies. You have truly gone above and beyond the call of duty. The stories of your heroism and sacrifice have been inspiring reading for all of us in the IOA.”

Rodney rubbed his hands together in delight. He leaned over to whisper into John’s ear, “That’s a promising beginning.”

“We could never begin to repay the debt we owe you.”

Rodney gave a loud snort. He whispered, “I have a list I can give her.” While he'd meant his comment to be for John’s ears only, his whispered words were loud enough that people three rows over were frowning at them.

The president continued, “However, having the Wraith make it to our galaxy has pointed out to us just how vulnerable we are to the threat they pose.” A stir went through the Lanteans as they all leaned forward, their eyes riveted on the woman speaking. The president looked out over her audience, meeting the eyes of individual expedition members, “I want you to know that the decision of the IOA has nothing to do with any of you.” She spoke earnestly, projecting honesty and sincerity.

Mr. Woolsey stood then asking the question burning in everyone’s mind. “Decision, Madame President? May I ask what you intend to do with Atlantis?”

She smiled at him, but there was no warmth in it. “I was getting there, Mr. Woolsey. But, since you have asked,” she took a moment to sweep the room with her gaze, giving her announcement an air of weight and importance, “Ladies and gentlemen, the IOA does not make this decision lightly, but we have decided that in the best interest of Earth and her defense, Atlantis will stay on earth.”

There was a momentary buzz of conversation that the President allowed to go on for a moment before she held up a hand requesting silence. An uneasy air swept over the room as people looked at each other, none of them knowing quite what to do.

“In San Francisco Bay?” Zelenka’s bewildered question caused a spontaneous outburst of laughter. It gave John a moment to reign in his anger so he could at least be coherent when he spoke.

The president smiled gently at Zelenka, but it was the practiced smile of a politician, there was no warmth or genuine emotion in the curving of her lips. “Not here specifically,” she answered patiently. It was obvious she had been briefed and was ready for whatever the Atlantis expedition would throw at her. “Approximately 70% of the surface of our planet is covered with water. I’m sure we can find an out-of-the-way place for the city of the Ancients.”

Ronon was scowling while Teyla was shooting an uneasy glance in John’s direction. It was only the iron grip that John had on Rodney’s arm that was keeping him in his seat. If John didn’t do something, and do it soon, it was going to be like one of their off-world missions with lots of shooting and running. And that just couldn’t end well.

John stood, “Madame President, with all due respect, Atlantis doesn’t belong here on Earth.”

John was heartened by the murmur of agreement that met his words.

The president folded her hands, “Colonel Sheppard, I had a feeling you would feel that way. I do respect your opinion, but I must tell you that the IOA is firm in their decision.”

“And I must tell you, Madame President,” John did his level best to keep his tone even and respectful, to not let the anger that was burning in his gut show in his voice or in his posture, “that Atlantis is all that is standing between the people of the Pegasus Galaxy and the Wraith. If you keep Atlantis here on Earth, you’re condemning those people to continuing generations of death and horror.”

There were calls of ‘here, here’ from the audience and a smattering of enthusiastic applause.

The president stood quietly, surveying them with the calm assurance of someone who was sure that she had the higher moral ground.

“I assure you, Colonel Sheppard, that is not our intent,” she waited to continue speaking until silence fell again. “But this galaxy, this planet, must be our priority. We have nearly seven billion people on this planet to safeguard. As soon as we are assured of Earth’s security, we will send Atlantis back to the Pegasus Galaxy.”

Rodney stood then, there was nothing John could do to stop him. John wasn’t sure he wanted to stop him.

“Earth has plenty of defenses,” Rodney shouted. “You have Stargate Command for one thing, and several space ships with weapons capable of fighting against the Wraith.”

A general a few seats over stood, “Spaceships that were damaged in *this* fight against these Wraith. We must keep Atlantis here in order to maintain our superiority over this enemy.”

Rodney was winding up for a rant. John sat back to enjoy the show.

“The problem in this instance was that this Wraith ship had a ZedPM. You’re never going to encounter that again.”

“Can you guarantee that?” The general wasn’t cowed by Rodney, John had a feeling that he ate men like Rodney McKay for breakfast. He rethought his position on rescuing Rodney.

“Well, no, I can’t,” Rodney spat out, “but we’re going to be in a better position to keep an eye on the Wraith in the Pegasus Galaxy than we will here, don’t you think?” he asked snidely.

Another man stood up. Dressed in an impeccable suit, he was polished all the way down to his shoes. He reminded John of Mr. Woolsey when he first showed up in Atlantis, a bean counter. “Excuse me, Dr. McKay, but with Atlantis here instead of in the Pegasus Galaxy, won’t the Wraith just forget about us and look for greener pastures, as it were?” Definitely a bean counter, looking at the final count rather than the immediate cost in terms of lives lost.

Rodney’s face turned red. John looked around to make sure Carson was in the room, just in case Rodney had a heart attack.

“Are you an idiot?” Rodney demanded. “No, don’t answer that,” he cut off the other man’s splutter. “The Wraith aren’t going to forget us because we’re not hanging out in the Pegasus Galaxy making their lives difficult. You people don’t get it, do you?” His contempt for everyone in the room not from Atlantis was apparent in his tone. “Earth is the Holy Grail for the Wraith, they’re never going to stop trying to get here, and they’re never going to give up…”

“And that’s exactly the reason that Atlantis should be here,” the general interjected when Rodney paused for a breath.

“No, that’s exactly the reason Atlantis should be in the Pegasus Galaxy. We can fight the Wraith there and keep them from ever making it this far. But you people are too short-sighted or stupid or maybe just plain afraid to see that. I don’t even know why I bother.” With that, Rodney began climbing over people. Ronon and Teyla followed behind him. John debated going with them. In the end he decided to stay and find out what else the IOA had planned for Atlantis.

It was just as well he stayed. The rest of the meeting had to do with the ‘future’ of Atlantis and what would happen to the people who had given their lives and their blood to protect her. They would be thanked for their service and sent ‘home.’ The military personnel would be reassigned. The IOA would take over the running of the city.

John was so angry by the end of the meeting that he could barely speak. He held his tongue because he knew there were people watching him, just waiting for the chance to use something he said or did against him and remove him from Atlantis that much sooner, so he wouldn’t be able to keep his people or his city safe. And that? Just wasn’t going happen.

John hurried through the crowds of people trying to catch him on the way out, refusing to speak with anyone. He exchanged a glance with Lorne, who nodded. Lorne ran interference for him, deflecting the attention away from him so he could get to his team before they did something they would regret.

~~~~~

It was a good thing that John went straight to his team. He found Rodney on the computer typing at his usual speed-of-light with Teyla and Ronon hanging over his shoulder.

“Ruining their credit is a good thing?” Teyla asked as John entered the lab.

“Stop, just stop,” he commanded as he took the last few steps to join his team.

Rodney frowned at him, but he at least paused in his typing.

“I'm going to make them rue the day they came up against Rodney McKay,” Rodney's eyes burned with that feverish light they got when he was working on something that was going to save the city or get them all blown up. “We can’t just go down without a fight.”

“Are you going to let them get away with this, Sheppard?” Ronon growled.

John gripped Rodney’s shoulder. He surveyed his team. Teyla and Ronon looked like they were ready to take the city by themselves. John didn’t doubt that they would try if they felt like there were no other options. The problem was they wouldn’t get anywhere. This wasn’t the galaxy they were born in; there were whole new rules here.

“There’s nothing for them to get away with,” John said evenly. He gave an exaggerated look around the room hoping that his team would catch his meaning. “Atlantis is here and it’s going to stay here. Right now I think we all need to go into San Francisco like we planned and figure how we’re going to get Teyla and Ronon back to Pegasus.” He spoke slowly using his eyebrows to try and add significance to his words. Judging by the curious expression on Teyla’s face, he just looked demented.

Finally something like comprehension seemed to break out on Rodney’s face. He nodded.

“You might be right, Sheppard,” Rodney said slowly, choosing his words carefully. “Please take note of that fact as this may be the only time that ever happens,” he interjected rather snidely. “There’s no use being upset spilled milk. I’ll have ah… more time for research this way without having to worry about the Wraith all the time.”

John gave Rodney the stink eye. Rodney extemporizing wasn’t helping. Teyla and Ronon were trading glances from one to the other of them. It looked like were one step away from calling for medical intervention.

“It’s going to be alright, Teyla.” John did his best to project all of his ‘trust me’ warmth into his tone. Teyla looked deep into his eyes before she nodded her acceptance.

“Ronon?” John turned to the big man. Ronon could do a lot of damage if he went off on his own. John needed him to just trust and go along for a little while until he could explain.

It was surprisingly easy. Ronon just shrugged and said, “Sure.”

Rodney turned back to his computer and backed out of whatever he was doing.

“You okay there, buddy?” John asked anxiously, peering over Rodney’s shoulder at the screen. It looked frighteningly official.

“Please, John, they won’t ever even know I was there,” Rodney assured him in a low voice. When he was done he cracked his knuckles, regarding John with a little smirk. “I believe you said something about San Francisco?”

Before they left an anonymous notice was posted to the Atlantis city-wide bulletin board:
Poker tonight/Usual place, usual suspects

~~~~~

San Francisco was as beautiful and fascinating as always. But they just couldn't enjoy it. It was like a mission where they kept doing a threat assessment of the surrounding population, constantly keeping the nearest egress points in sight in case they had to run for their lives. It was depressing, to say the least.

Teyla watched the people passing them thoughfully. "They have lived their whole life but they do not know about the dangers of the Wraith?"

John shook his head. He didn't tell her about the terrible things on Earth - drugs and murder and people who hurt other people just for the kick of it.

They passed a street magician who was apparently pulling a man's underwear off with his pants still on. “I’d shoot him,” Ronon growled. John put himself between Ronon and the street magician and kept his group moving down the sidewalk.

While they may not have been able to enjoy the city, Teyla and Ronon loved the seafood. Rodney refused to even go in the restaurant.

"Do you know how much citrus is in seafood?" He glared at them in betrayal before he stomped away.

John looked back at Teyla and Ronon with an apologetic shrug.

Teyla waved at him, "Go." She flashed a sly smile and the credit card the SGC had issued to her while they were on Earth. "We will be fine here."

Ronon nodded his agreement.

John gave a hasty wave of his hand and rushed down the boardwalk to join Rodney.

They got ice cream and strolled together.

"How are the repairs to the city coming?" John asked, he worked to make sure he looked easy and unconcerned. They were just two co-workers talking shop. These are not the droids you are looking for. He hoped the art of misdirection worked as well for him as it did for Obi Wan Kenobi.

Rodney shrugged. He kept an eye on the people around them like he expected someone to take him prisoner any moment. It was hard to let go of the paranoid habits that had kept them alive in the past. They were on Earth; they should at least be safe here. But John had that same feeling that someone was watching them.

"There was a lot of damage. But we've got all the major systems restored. We could go home tomorrow. The IOA knows that."

John nodded. It was just as he expected. Rodney and his team did damn good work. They'd all been working like they were under a deadline. Now that deadline had come and it was no good, they weren't going home.

Rodney was fidgety, wolfing down his ice cream in a half dozen big bites. He kept glancing at John out of the corner of his eye.

"What's up, McKay?" John asked at last, he bumped their shoulders, licking at his own ice cream. It was too sweet; he wasn't used to it anymore. He preferred the little cakes made by the Athosians that used local honey as a sweetener.

Rodney cleared his throat. "When you said you liked me, did you mean like a friend likes another friend? Or…"

John's brain froze; he didn't know what to say. He should have known that his revelation to Rodney on the pier would lead to this. Rodney was just too smart to not put together the pieces. He didn't know what to do now. He'd never said anything to Rodney about his feelings because Rodney was straight. He didn't want to ruin their friendship by making declarations of love that were unwanted. But he wasn't going to lie to Rodney either.

He threw his half-eaten ice cream away. He brushed his hands with the napkin before throwing it away, too. He took a surreptitious look around. There were so many people. John felt as if they were all watching the two of them.

Rodney watched him, his eyes bright. As John stalled, the hope faded from Rodney's face.

"I guess… I see what you meant." Rodney said. He folded his arms and started to walk away.

"Damn it." John caught Rodney's arm and pulled him in.

"John, just let me go," Rodney ground out, he got a hand between them and tried to push John away. "I misunderstood, I'll get over it."

John didn't know what to say. But he was always better with actions than words. He pulled Rodney to him and kissed him.

Rodney flailed for a second, trying to push John away before he realized what was happening. Then he clenched his fists into John's shirt, drawing him closer.

John kissed Rodney until they had to draw away to breathe. He leaned into Rodney, their foreheads touching.

"When you said you liked me?" Rodney whispered.

John huffed. "Are you going to make me say it?"

"I just need to be sure I'm not alone here."

"You're not alone, okay," John said. "You're never going to be alone again, I promise." He pressed a kiss to Rodney's lips as a promise.

"Okay," Rodney said. "You're gay?"

John barked out a laugh. "Yeah, Rodney, I'm gay and you're not."

A shy smile broke out over Rodney's face. "So, maybe I'm finding out new things about myself."

They broke apart. A lifetime of caution had John looking around. No one was even paying any attention to them. He supposed they were pretty tame by San Francisco standards.

"So, what happens next?" Rodney asked as they started back to the restaurant where they'd left Ronon and Teyla.

John looked down at where their hands were joined, their fingers twined together.

"What do you want to happen next?"

Rodney stopped; his gaze was distant as he looked out over the water. Atlantis was out there, John could feel her tugging at his senses even now.

"Maybe we could go slow," Rodney said, casting an anxious sideways glance at John. "I'm not as upset at breaking up with Jennifer as I thought I would be. Maybe it was because I was more in love with the idea of being in love with her than I was in love with her. She was a beautiful 26-year-old woman and she wanted me."

John waited as Rodney talked, ready to let him take all the time he needed.

"I think I was afraid she was my last and only shot at being in love and having a family."

"Rodney," John started to protest.

Rodney held up a hand. "I was just fooling myself, I know that. But I kind of jumped in with both feet when she seemed to want me the way I wanted her, and I didn't stop to think the whole thing through. I think I need to go a little slower with you."

"We can go as slow as you want," John slid in close to Rodney, just to feel his warmth and to know that he could. He refused to scan the faces of the crowd, to see if there was anyone there that he knew watching them. He'd made his decision, about a lot of things, and he wasn't going to apologize to anyone about his feelings for Rodney. He pressed a kiss to the back of Rodney's neck.

Rodney shivered. "Okay, that's good. You can keep doing that."

John smiled as he pressed another kiss into Rodney's skin. "We should get back. Teyla and Ronon are going to eat themselves into a coma if we don't."

Rodney turned just a little so that he could kiss John. "Yeah, okay. If we can do more of this later?"

"I think that can be arranged."

They held hands all the way back to the restaurant where they found Teyla and Ronon still eating. They had a mound of crab shells and shrimp carcasses on the table in front of them. Ronon leaned back with a belch when he saw John and Rodney approaching their table. He waved a hand over the detritus on the table.

"We need to take some of this back with us," he pronounced.

John smiled. "Sure, buddy. You guys ready to go?"

Teyla pushed herself away from the table.

"I am ready to go home," she said with finality.

~~~~~~

The city was quiet when they got back. Since they'd been on Earth they'd returned to the Earth clock, with shifts to correspond. The stars were beginning to appear in the evening sky and Atlantis had gone into night shift.

"Atlantis control, this is jumper one." John triggered the roof top iris with a thought. He brought the jumper in with barely a thump against the deck as he landed.

"Jumper one, glad you're home, Colonel. Everything's quiet," Chuck reported from control. "Major Lorne says to tell you that the poker game started without you."

"We're headed down there now, Sergeant, unless there's anything I need to see up there?"

"No, sir. Everything's locked down tight. Enjoy your game."

"You going to join us, Sergeant?"

"I'll be down as soon as my shift is over," Chuck said.

"Good, see you there."

Rodney tapped his comm, "Is Radek back yet?" He looked over at John to explain, "Radek had a job offer with some big time think tank. He's not going to accept the job, but he was excited about the free dinner."

Chuck answered, "He got back about a half hour ago. He's already gone down to join the poker game."

"Excellent." Rodney rubbed his hands in glee. "Radek is so bad at poker, I'm going to clean up."

~~~~~~

The room where the poker game was held was down on the third sublevel. It had been damaged during the flood when Atlantis rose from the sea. The science team had been through and the area was structurally sound, but the sensors were damaged in that part of the city. No one in the control room could monitor them or even know who was in the room. It had become a popular meeting place since Atlantis had been on Earth.

Furniture from around the city had migrated there – a table with chairs, a couple of sofas, some comfortable chairs. It had the feeling of a clubhouse. Sometimes John was surprised that there wasn't a sign on the front – password required.

When John and the team entered everyone went quiet.

John was glad to see all of the familiar faces there, people that had been with them from the first, and even some personnel from the second wave – Lorne included. Now that he was there, with everyone silent and looking at him, he didn't know what to say.

Ronon took the initiative and said what they'd all been thinking.

"This sucks," he stalked into the room, throwing himself into a chair.

There was an outbreak of laughter and then everyone started talking at once. John held up a hand. Quiet descended upon the room again.

"I guess you all know why we're here," he said buying time until he could get his thoughts together.

"Oh, please," Rodney pushed past him. "The IOA has their head up their ass. If the city is going to get back to Pegasus, we're going to have to steal it ourselves."

"Well," John started. Trust Rodney not to mince words.

Teyla sat down on the sofa, her body fairly radiated the hope that they could return to the Pegasus Galaxy. "Can we do that?"

"Now hold on a minute," Lorne held up a hand, staring around the room. "Are we sure that we're there? Stealing the city?"

"Were you at the same meeting we were?" Rodney turned to Lorne in astonishment. "They're going to start reassigning people. We have to do this now or you and John could be sent somewhere else. Oh, my god," Rodney turned to John. "You could be sent somewhere else?"

"Yeah, Rodney," John said softly. "But that's not why we're going to do this. We're going to do this because it's the right thing to do. Earth has ships to defend it, it has allies and technology. All the people in Pegasus have is us. If we desert Pegasus, then we're leaving it to the Wraith, and I can't do that. I'm going back, but you guys…" he turned to face the people in the room looking at him with trust in their eyes. "We'll all be branded as traitors. There's a chance we might not succeed and if we're caught…, well it's going to be bad. If we're not caught and we actually succeed, we'll never be able to come home again."

Carson stood. "I can nae speak for anyone but me, but Earth's not my home anymore. In a very real sense I'm a child of the Pegasus Galaxy, I'll be going along with you."

Around the room chairs scraped and people rose to their feet.

"We're with you, Sheppard," Ronon said. "Want to go home."

"Do you have a plan?" Teyla asked. They all looked at Rodney.

He huffed. "Oh, right, when it's time to do the hard work everyone looks at me." Still Rodney rubbed his hands; there was a glint of glee in his eye. "I have some ideas," he admitted.

Someone in the back of the room stepped forward. John was shocked to see that it was Mr. Woolsey. If he had thought about it, he would have assumed that Mr. Woolsey was on the same side with the IOA, but Mr. Woosley had seen the crazy side of the Pegasus Galaxy, maybe he'd come to love it the way the rest of them did.

"Mr. Woolsey," John started cautiously. Woolsey wouldn't be here unless someone had invited him. John wanted to trust him, but what they were talking about doing was so dangerous. They could all end up jailed as traitors for life, or worse.

"John," Mr. Woolsey stopped him. "I want to assure you that I agree with you about this. I saw what was happening in the Pegasus Galaxy. They need Atlantis there. I can not support the decision the IOA made, I argued against it as much as I could without being removed from my position as leader of the expedition. I know you all don't know me very well, but I want to be a part of this, I want to help."

It all became real in that moment. John knew everyone else in the room, trusted them with his life. He just didn't know Mr. Woolsey well enough yet – but Mr. Woolsey had always listened when they talked to him. He might not agree or even make the decision they wanted, but he always considered their opinion and told them when he thought they were wrong. John made his decision and held out his hand to Mr. Woolsey.

"Welcome aboard," he said. "We're glad to have you." They shook hands solemnly while everyone else looked on. "Did you... ah… have anything to say?"

Woolsey nodded. "I have given this some thought. It is important that whatever we do, we make everything look every day." Mr. Woosley gazed at the faces watching him. "No one can call their family to say good bye or give any indication that anything unusual is happening. I have suspected something like this might happen, so I might have ordered some extra supplies just in case."

John stared at Woolsey a moment. Actually John was glad Woolsey was there.

"Okay…, good. That sounds good."

Rodney stood up. He'd about reached his limit of sitting back and letting other people take charge. His need to be a part of things was one of the things John loved about him.

"Okay, I need to meet with Zelenka. I have some ideas but we need to go over systems and make sure everything's ready …"

John held up his hand to stop Rodney's flow of words. "Okay, keep it need to know for now. In case the IOA gets word of this and they question one of us, we can't give something away by accident." The 'or if tortured' hung in the air. John looked at the faces gathered around the room – Dr. Biro was there and most of Rodney's scientists, including the linguists. There was a large contingent of the military present along with Lorne.

“Like Mr. Woolsey said, we've got to look like every day,” he said soberly, meeting every eye. “The IOA and the SGC can’t suspect that there’s anything going on. Maybe once we’re back in Pegasus you can contact your family…” he trailed off awkwardly not wanting to make promises he couldn't make good on.

Zelenka cleared his throat, “Is alright, Colonel, we know what we are getting into. You are lucky I am here; I have already lived through one revolution. This one is piece of cake.”

There was a chuckle that swept through the room and the level of tension eased.

"Okay…" Rodney took over, striding forward. "Radek, we can start in the morning."

John smiled. "Yeah, I figured the two of you could come up with something. Whatever you do, I'd like a way for anyone who doesn't want to go to Pegasus to get off the city."

"Oh, sure," Rodney grumbled. "Make it difficult when I'm the one who has to figure it out."

"You?" Radek asked archly.

"Oh, shut up, you know what I meant," Rodney sniped at him.

John smirked at him, "You guys'll figure something out."

"Perhaps we can talk now?" Radek indicated the bar in the corner. When they were in Atlantis all they'd had was the liquor they traded for and some stuff that Radek made, John never asked where the still was, he didn't want to know. Now they had the best that Earth had to offer on hand and it just wasn't the same.

Rodney shook his head. "Let's start tomorrow. I've got some ideas I'd like to get my head around before we start."

Radek nodded and wandered away to join the poker game.

John bumped Rodney's shoulder. "You want to join the game or…"

Rodney smiled at him. John loved his crooked smile. "Or sounds pretty good."

John walked Rodney back to his quarters. The walk was quiet, with too many unspoken thoughts filling the air.

When they reached his door, Rodney asked, “You wanna come in?” He swallowed nervously.

John thought about what Woolsey had said about keeping things normal. Still, he followed Rodney into his quarters.

John rubbed a hand through his hair. He wanted, but he didn't know if he should. "We were going to take this slow, remember?"

"Well, there's slow and then there's going backwards." Rodney smiled at him uncertainly.

John threaded their fingers together. The IOA be damned. He leaned in and kissed Rodney slowly with promise. He pulled away with regret.

"Rodney…"

Rodney frowned and started to pull away. "If you don't want to do this…" he started.

John held on to him. "Rodney, don't ever think that. I just don't want you to think that I'm with you as some kind of rebellion against the IOA."

Rodney huffed, "I'm not a 17-year-old at the prom, Sheppard. Don't tell me that you want our first time to be special."

John smiled at him with a leer. "Oh, believe me I know that. I just want you to know that our first time together is because I want to be with you."

Rodney softened. He relented, leaning in against John. "So, once we're back in Pegasus?"

"We are having so much sex." John promised.

"Now, that," Rodney said, "is a plan I can get behind.

~~~~~

John woke to banging on his door. He was instantly alert, assessing the threat level. They were still on Earth; the dawn was just starting to fill the sky outside his window with a pink glow.

"Colonel Sheppard," a voice boomed outside his door.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be right there," he mumbled as he pushed himself out of bed. John ran a hand through his hair before stumbling over to open the door.

He found two SFs standing at his door. They weren't anyone John had ever met. They certainly weren't part of Atlantis military. Their names – Michelson and Roberts, weren't familiar to him either.

"Colonel John Sheppard," one of them, Michelson, said. He didn't wait for John to identify himself before he continued. "Please dress and come with us, sir."

John leaned on the door frame and yawned widely. "Sure. You want to come in while I dress?" He waved a hand to the two men.

"We'll wait out here," Michelson said. "Please dress quickly."

"Suit yourself," John gave the men a small wave and let the door shut in their face. He hurried to his dresser and shoved his comm in his ear, his thoughts whirling.

"Rodney," he said, keeping his voice low so the men outside his door wouldn't hear.

"Sheppard?" Rodney's sleepy voice mumbled in his ear. John felt calmer just hearing him.

"Hey, Rodney," John said, throwing clothes onto his bed. He didn't know how long the guys outside his door were going to wait before they started breaking through his door. He knew that Atlantis could keep them out indefinitely, but he didn't want to piss them off too badly.

"What's wrong?" John could hear it when Rodney's brain kicked into gear and he woke up.

"Nothing's wrong," John assured Rodney. "I'm just going to be away for a couple of days."

"What? John, you're not making any sense."

"I just wanted to say I love you, okay, while I can. I'm leaving you in charge of the city. Get everyone back to Pegasus okay?"

John pulled his comm out of his ear and threw it across the room before Rodney had time to answer. He was sorry that he had to say the L word like that but he wasn't sure he'd have another opportunity. He'd already let too many chances slip through his fingers.

There was a pounding of heavy fists on his door.

"Colonel Sheppard," the SF shouted.

"Don't get your panties in a twist," John shouted back. "I'll be right there." John didn't know what the SFs wanted, but it couldn't be anything good coming so quickly after their decision to steal Atlantis and return to the Pegasus galaxy. He had a cold feeling that he was never going to see Atlantis or Rodney McKay again. He swallowed against the rush of grief that swept through him. He had to keep his head to minimize the damage. Maybe Rodney could still get the city away if he could keep the IOA occupied long enough for Rodney to put his plan into action.

John opened his door again once he was ready. He took a look around his room; trying not to think that this was the last time he was going to see it. He saw Ronon standing there in the hall looking like he was trying to calculate the odds of taking the SFs out. Ronon raised a brow when he saw John. John shook his head. He didn't need Ronon arrested with him. John stepped through his door, letting it shut behind him.

That was when Rodney came out of his room, he was only half dressed – his shirt was hanging loose and he was shoeless with his hair sticking up all over the place.

"What's going on here?" he demanded at the top of his voice.

"Colonel Sheppard is coming with us," the SF who'd been doing all the talking, Michelson, said.

"What? No he's not," Rodney stepped forward and one of the SFs, the quiet one, stepped into his path, his hand on the weapon at his hip.

John shoved his way through the SFs. "Rodney, don't do this. It's going to be okay."

Ronon moved to Rodney's side. "I'll keep an eye on him," Ronon promised. "Keep him out of trouble."

John nodded gratefully. "Good."

He started off down the hallway, listening in amusement as the SFs hurried to catch up with him.

~~~~~

Before they'd even left the residential hallway, white light surrounded John and his escort. The distinctive architecture of Atlantis was abruptly replaced by the dismal concrete landscape that was Stargate Command in Cheyenne Mountain. John didn't recognize the room he was in, but he did recognize the man he found waiting for him there.

It wasn't his office, but General Landry was sitting in a chair at a table in the center of the room. There was a mirror along one wall and a camera was mounted high up in one corner, its red light glowed steadily. John recognized an interrogation room when he was in one.

"General Landry." John stood at attention waiting to find out what kind of greeting he was going to get.

"Dismissed," the general waved the SFs out of the room. "I can handle the colonel alone."

The SFs saluted and left the room. The click of the door behind them was chillingly final.

"So, Colonel," Landry indicated the chair across from him.

John sat just to find out what happened next. Rodney would say that he had a death wish. The truth couldn't be farther from that, John wanted to live a long happy life with Rodney McKay at his side.

The General steepled his fingers. "Colonel, I've been hearing some disturbing rumors." He paused, giving John a chance to cave and confess everything, no doubt. But John was playing for time, time for Rodney to put his plan together and get Atlantis back to Pegasus. The General was going to have to work for anything he got out of John.

"SG-1 not working out?" John hazarded a guess. "Those kids not playing nice together?"

The General leaned back in his chair, he regarded John with narrowed eyes. "I'm not in the mood for games today, Colonel. Tell me what you have planned."

"Or what?" John asked genuinely curious. "You won't throw me into Leavenworth for the rest of my life?"

"You have no idea of what's at stake here, do you, son?"

It sounded so much like something John's father used to say to him. "I know that Atlantis belongs in Pegasus. You'd know that, too, if you'd just get your head out of your ass." John spat at Landry.

He expected Landry to get angry. He expected harsh words or fists. Instead Landry smiled.

"I bet you're thinking that you're never going to see your city again."

John wrapped his arms around himself, feeling the coldness in his stomach turn into ice. He'd been resigned to never seeing Atlantis again. But he'd imagined himself in a cell with a lawyer. There was a malicious light in Landry's eyes that told John he would never see the inside of a cell, that there was something much worse than death in his future.

Landry leaned forward, "But that's where you're wrong."

Landry pushed himself away from the table. He got up and left the room, the door locking behind him.

John tried not to let the quiet get to him. It was meant to disarm him, he knew. Someone hadn't read his file if they thought a little solitude was going to unnerve him.

Time passed and still John was left alone. There was only the table and the chair in the room, there was absolutely nothing for him to do. He tried the door just in case and found it was, as he'd expected, locked. He paced the room. He tapped the walls to see if there were any weaknesses he could exploit. There weren't. He did pushups to have something to do.

It was obvious there was a spy in Atlantis. Someone had spilled their plans to Landry. It was good bet the entire IOA knew by now. Landry's words haunted him. "That's where you're wrong?" What did it mean?

He thought about Rodney. He hadn't told Rodney how he felt because he hadn't thought there was ever a chance for anything more. He'd always thought that Rodney was straight. And Rodney was his best friend. He'd cheated both of them, he knew, not wanting to take a chance with their friendship by telling Rodney how he felt. Now, when there was a possibility of more between them, John had to make peace with the fact that he might never see Rodney again.

He didn't have any way of knowing how much time had passed. The light in the room never changed. He was way past hungry. He'd been taken from his room before breakfast and now his stomach was complaining that fact. He paced the room restlessly.

Finally he tucked himself into the far corner of the room on the floor and drowsed. He didn't fool himself into thinking that he might be allowed to sleep. He wasn't disappointed. He'd been sitting what felt like mere minutes, his head tilted back to rest on the wall, when the door opened. John scrambled to his feet unwilling to allow himself to be at the disadvantage by being on the ground.

The man who entered the room looked vaguely familiar. He paused to admire himself in the mirror where he straightened the lapels of his impeccably tailored suit. He smoothed a hand down his hair before he moved to sit at the table, gesturing for John to join him.

"Colonel Sheppard," the man said, his voice had an odd deep timber, his eyes glowed with an inner light.

John suppressed a shiver. Oh, hell, no. He'd heard that peculiar voice before, seen the eyes glow when Colonel Caldwell was possessed by the Goa'uld symbiote.

John sat, carefully keeping the table between himself and the other man.

"I think you have the advantage here," John said cautiously. "You know my name, but I don't know yours."

The man smiled charmingly, leaning forward. "You are quite right, how rude of me. We should get to know each other since we are going to be so close. I am Ba'al."

John's mind raced. He'd read the mission reports regarding Ba'al and his dealings with the SGC. Nothing he'd read had been good. "Aren't you supposed to be dead?"

The man waved a hand with a genial smile, "Death is so impermanent when you're a god."

John snapped his fingers, more of the reports he'd read coming back to him, "Yeah, yeah, and all your clones, too."

Ba'al leaned back, making himself comfortable, "You have done your homework, haven't you? Well, I learned long ago to never show my whole hand. I left a clone off world, just in case. As it turns out, that was a wise decision."

"So, you're a clone, not the real deal?"

"Do not mistake me, Sheppard," Ba'al growled, his genial mood gone in an instant. "I am every bit as dangerous as the original." His tone turned gentler. "But there is no reason for this enmity. We can be friends, you and I."

"Oh, I don't think so," John folded his arms doing his best to look defiant.

Ba'al snapped his fingers. The door opened one more time. A SF, Michelson, walked in pushing a cart. There was a clear bowl of water on it. There was a black shape swimming inside the bowl.

John pushed himself away, the chair rattling on the floor when it flew backwards. "Oh, hell, no."

Ba'al laughed. It was a cold, evil thing.

"Oh, yes, Sheppard. This is my son, and soon he will reside in you." Ba'al rose. When he lifted his hand John could see that there was some kind of metal glove device on it. It had a gem in the center that was glowing softly. "We are going to be so close." Ba'al stalked him until John was backed into the corner with nowhere else to go. He raised his hand so that the gem was above John, the soft light of the pulsing jewel was hypnotic, he couldn't take his eyes off of it. It felt like Ba'al was taking a knife to his brain.

"And then once you are mine, John Sheppard," Ba'al cooed, "I'm going to send you back to Atlantis where you can resume your duties as the military commander. Isn't that what you wanted, after all?"

John's knees threatened to buckle, but he refused to go down. He braced himself against the wall letting it hold him up.

"Go to hell," John ground out.

The light was almost blinding John, the pain grew more intense. Ba'al leaned in, they were almost touching, "You will do my bidding, deliver me whatever I want from Atlantis and no one will suspect a thing."

John had defied Wraith queens, no way was this bastard son of a snake going to get the better of him.

"It was you, wasn't it?" John forced out through teeth clenched against the pain. "You were the one who engineered the IOA's decision to keep Atlantis here."

Ba'al laughed. The beam became brighter, slicing into John's mind, tearing at it.

"Don't you know? Most of the leaders of the IOA are mine. Soon I will control all of the Earth's governments. Once I have Atlantis no one will be able to stop me."

John gritted his teeth harder, fighting the beam. "Pretty sure we can."

"I love the way you resist me, Sheppard, like you think you can win." Ba'al slid a hand into his hair, almost caressing John as the beam kept slicing into his brain.

John tried to pull his head away, but Ba'al dug his fingers in deeper.

"Very well," Ba'al said, his voice a silky whisper, "if you insist, we will do this the hard way." The knife cutting into John's brain increased in intensity until it was all he could feel. He fought it as long as he could, but it was too much. John slid into darkness just to get it to end.

~~~~~

John woke to the mother of all headaches. He had a moment of complete dissonance with no idea where he was. He was naked, laying face down on a table. That could only mean bad things. He was face to face with a glass bowl that had a black snakey shape swimming around. It hissed at him when he raised his head to look at it.

"I said, hell, no!" He tried to roll off the table, but he was held down, hands pushed him back down on the table.

Ba'al strode into his line of sight. He laughed.

"Ah, Colonel, I am glad to see that you are awake again. You had us worried. Not that a little brain damage isn't something the symbiote can't repair, but I want all of your secrets accessible to my son." Ba'al reached into the bowl, wrapping a loving hand around the symbiote and lifting it out. It wrapped around his hand. He fondled it for a moment like it was a favored pet. When he moved away John couldn't see him anymore. But he felt the hand that Ba'al swept down his side in a sensuous caress.

"Did I ever tell you, Colonel," Ba'al sounded almost… chatty, "that my first host was a woman? She was too fragile and didn't last long, but I have retained her love for a handsome man." The hand slid down onto John's ass. It lingered there possessively. A kiss was pressed to the small of John's back.

"It's a pity we don't have more time to get acquainted," Ba'al said. "But there will be time for that after…" John felt a slimy wetness touch his back. A full body shudder swept through him.

Ba'al moved back up to the head of the table. He leaned down to whisper into John's ear, "Now, Colonel, I will see you again soon. Maybe then you will be more receptive to my affection." There was the sound of footsteps and the door opened and closed. It was just John and the symbiote and the guards holding John down.

He bucked, trying to get the thing off of him. The hands just held him tighter, refusing to let him move. He could feel the drag of its body as the symbiote slid up his back. It hissed and John imagined he could feel the flick of its tongue as it tasted his flesh. He waited, hardly daring to breath, not knowing what to expect when the symbiote invaded his body. He was certain it wasn't going to be pleasant.

He'd been a prisoner in his own body before when the alien Thalan had taken his body to hunt down Elizabeth. He'd screamed for hours and knew the futility when no one could hear him. He was terrified of the thought that it would happen again and this time no one would know. No one would keep him from hurting the people he loved the most.

That was when the door blew off its frame. John tried to twist, but the hands that held him down still refused to let him move.

He heard a voice that sounded a lot like Ronon shout, "Sheppard. He's here!"

There were shots that whizzed over his head, but John wasn't aware of anything but the symbiote moving up his back with a sinuous back and forth motion. John could feel it as it reached his shoulder blades. He tensed anticipating the moment when it would enter his body.

"Shoot it, shoot the symbiote," John heard someone, Lorne maybe, shout.

A shot rang out that deafened John it was so close. He felt a splatter of liquid on his back, the symbiote didn't move any further.

That was when he realized that the hands holding him down were gone. John slid off the table, doing his best to scrape off whatever was on his back.

Teyla was at his side, she caught his arm. "It is dead, John."

He was breathing hard, panic clawing at him, thinking about what had almost happened.

"I'm okay," he gasped, pretty sure he wasn't convincing anyone, least of all himself. "What are you guys doing here?" He didn't want to sound ungrateful but he was surprised to see not only Teyla, but Ronon and Lorne. The two guys that had been holding him down were in a crumpled heap on the floor.

Ronon shrugged, "Rescuing you. McKay wouldn't leave without you."

"But…" John shook his head. It had only been a couple of days since the IOA had made their announcement. He knew Rodney was good, but he'd thought it would take him a little longer to get a plan together. "Major, sitrep," he barked out.

Lorne took a step in from the door where he was keeping watch. "You've been gone from the city 10 hours. About an hour ago an alarm started and McKay announced that the Ancients had programmed in a fail safe that would return Atlantis to Pegasus. We got everyone off who wanted to leave and now we're here to get you. McKay told us not to come back without you."

John took a deep breath. He hadn't allowed himself to think that he might actually make it back to Atlantis.

"How did you guys get here?"

"Do we have time for this?" Ronon growled.

"You're right," Lorne said. "Short story, McKay installed Asgard transporters while we were on Earth. We tracked you using your subcue transmitter. Teyla get us out of here." Lorne took up position on one side of John, Ronon the other.

Teyla tapped her radio. "Rodney, we have him."

A bright white light surrounded them, then they were back on Atlantis. John had never been so glad to see the stained glass windows that soared over the gate. John could feel Atlantis' welcome in his bones.

Mr. Woolsey and Rodney were standing bent over a new panel that had been squeezed in with everything else in the control panel. Mr. Woolsey straightened at John's entrance and turned to greet him. When he saw John's pantless state he shut his mouth with a click.

Rodney looked up at John then back at the panel, then he did a double take and gaped, his mouth open. The rest of the personnel in the room were busy looking anywhere but at John.

"Where are your pants?" Rodney finally managed to squeak out.

John really wanted a shower to get the symbiote guts and the feel of Ba'al's hand off of him, but he settled for standing at his full height.

"We've got a situation," he announced. "We have a spy on Atlantis. Someone reported our plans to General Landry."

"Are you sure, Colonel?" Woolsey asked.

"Oh, pretty sure." John looked around at the personnel in the room. "He handed me over to Ba'al who was going to put a symbiote in me. You guys rescued me before that happened. Thank you for that, by the way. Now would someone go to my quarters and get me pants?" There was a collision in the doorway as three different people headed for the transporter to carry out John's request.

Ronon solved the immediate problem by dropping his coat over John's shoulders.

"Thank you," John shrugged the coat on, buttoning it down the front.

Ronon shrugged. "Wouldn't want McKay to hurt himself before the honeymoon," he smirked.

"Hey!" Rodney protested weakly, turning back to the panel, but he kept sneaking glances over at John.

"Will someone tell me what is going on?" If the thrum he could feel through his feet was any indication, Atlantis was airborne. He was all for that, but there was something he had to do first.

"Are we in the air? Who's flying the city?" He frowned looking around for someone to tell him what was happening

That snapped Rodney out of the fugue state he was stuck in.

"Yes, we're airborne and Carson's in the chair," Rodney scowled down at the panel he was working at.

John went to stand next to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Thank you for saving me, next time's my turn, okay?"

Rodney didn't look back at him, but he nodded. "Can we go home?" Rodney was savagely punching buttons, preparing to take them back to Pegasus.

"No!" John grabbed his hand. "As much as I want to hear all about your plan, there's something we've got to do first."

"What? Are you crazy?" Rodney waved a hand to forestall his answer. "No, don't answer that, we all know you're crazy. Did you forget to get your favorite cereal before you left? Well, I'm sorry but it's a little late for that now."

John waited patiently for Rodney to finish before he said, "Rodney, there are still Goa'uld on Earth. We need to warn the SGC before we leave."

Rodney frowned at him, "Fine," he finally said, his mouth was turned down in an unhappy droop. "But if they catch us and make us stay, it's all your fault." John could hear the worry in his tone. It was true that a lot of was riding on them escaping, but John couldn't just leave knowing what he knew. He had to tell someone.

"Okay," John pinched his brows. His headache was spiking more, the Goa'uld hand device was worse than the Wraith stunner, and he really wanted pants. "I need to talk to Jack O'Neill. Can we get him here without anyone else knowing?"

"Yes," Rodney indicated the panel he was currently abusing, "because if you haven't noticed we now have Asgard beaming technology."

John grinned, "I noticed. Thanks for that. There for a minute I thought I was going to be a Goa'uld."

Rodney gulped. "But you're not, are you?" Rodney glanced over at Ronon for reassurance.

"He's Sheppard," Ronon nodded.

"What is your plan, John?" Teyla asked. She was always so serene. John envied her that ability to be calm in any situation. He was still about ready to jump out of his skin from what had almost happened.

"First I need to talk to Carson," John took a deep breath to order his thoughts.

"Carson?" Rodney's gaze swept John up and down assessing him. "I knew you were injured."

John stopped the rant before it could start. "I'm not injured, Rodney," he said tiredly. Normally he didn't mind Rodney's rants. If Rodney still had breath to rant, it meant they were still alive. They just didn't have time for it now. "I need to talk some things over with him," he clarified. "Once I get some pants on. Then we can get O'Neill here."

He turned to Lorne, "Get someone to take over for Dr. Beckett in the control chair. I'm going to need him up here." He turned back to Rodney, "Let me know when we're ready to bring O'Neill up.

Rodney nodded. "What are you going to be doing?"

"I'm going to put some pants on." John left the control room running.

He had just enough time to go to his quarters and take a quick swipe at his back and get the Goa'uld bits off and put on a uniform. A full shower would have to wait until they were on their way back to Pegasus. He was back in the control room when Carson arrived and nodded that he was ready.

"Miko is in the control chair. She's doing very well, but I don't want to leave her down there too long."

John nodded his agreement. Once they got the city headed back home they could set up a schedule and all of the gene holders could take time in the chair.

"Okay," John turned to Rodney. "Do you have General O'Neill located?"

"He's going to be really pissed if we just beam him up with no warning," Rodney pointed out cautiously.

"Rodney, we're stealing Atlantis and going back to Pegasus as traitors to our world," John pointed out wearily. "Are we really worried about pissing General O'Neill off?"

Rodney's frown tugged down his mouth. "Well, if you put it like that," he huffed. He stabbed at the controls.

White light coalesced on the gate room floor. When it was gone General O'Neill was standing there in its place. He looked around like he'd almost been expecting something of the sort. He saw John staring down at him from the control room balcony.

"Sheppard, just the man I wanted to see." He took the steps up to the control room two at a time. "So, kids, do you mind telling me what's going on here? I've heard from the President today. Do you know how much I don't like hearing from the President?"

John felt like all the times he'd stood in front of his father and had to explain himself for something stupid he'd done. Except that he respected the General a hell of a lot more than he'd ever respected his father. And this wasn't something stupid. He had the smartest men in two galaxies with him on this one.

John remained silent until after Carson finished running a scanner over O'Neill. O'Neill waited patiently, one brow raised. When he was done, Carson nodded at John.

"It's him alright."

"General, sir, we need to talk," John started. Then there was a pregnant pause while O'Neill fidgeted.

"Well, okay, talk," O'Neill said finally. He looked around at the faces surrounding him. "Good job on the Asgard transporters, McKay, I didn't see that one coming. So, what's up? I understand there's an emergency and Atlantis is being forced back to Pegasus." He took in the people around him with a shrewd eye. "Those wacky Ancients."

Woolsey stepped forward, "Sir, the Atlantis colony would like to formally declare our independence."

The General nodded. "I did kind of see that one coming. Am I a hostage?"

"What? No," John rushed to reassure him. "In fact you're here because I wanted to warn you that Ba'al is back."

O'Neill actually looked surprised at that. "No way."

"Way." John assured him earnestly. "I was arrested yesterday. I was taken to General Landry, but he handed me over to Ba'al."

O'Neill swore quietly under his breath, but he waved a hand for John to continue.

"Ba'al's at Stargate Command. I was almost implanted with a symbiote." John rubbed the skin at the back of his neck just to reassure himself that it was whole and smooth. "He said that most of the high ranking members of the IOA are Goa'uld. He tried to put one in me, but my team rescued me."

O'Neill rocked back on his heels taking in the team at John's back. "Well done, then. I can tell you from personal experience, it's no fun having one of those things in your head, and mine was one of the good guys."

John nodded and continued. "Ba'al said that he wanted Atlantis. He was going to put a symbiote in my head and then send me back as military commander of Atlantis to steal its Ancient technology for him. I don't know what the rest of his plan was after that."

O'Neill looked around the control room thoughtfully. He nodded slowly. "Well then I think its best that Atlantis goes back to Pegasus. McKay, didn't you say that there was some sort of failsafe that's been triggered and the city is going back to the Pegasus Galaxy whether you want that or now?"

Rodney pushed himself forward. "Yes, there's nothing we can do about it."

"Good. You guys go back to Pegasus and I'll take care of the Milky Way Galaxy."

John almost felt let down at how easy it had been.

Mr. Woolsey picked that moment to get stubborn. "General O'Neill, my apologies, but we've been forced to jump to the IOA's bidding for far too long. We would be happy to talk about diplomatic relations with Earth, but we are declaring our independence."

They'd almost made a clean getaway without any repercussions, but John agreed with Mr. Woolsey. It was time for a clean break. If they didn't do it now the IOA was going to try and pull Atlantis back to Earth at every opportunity. The city wasn't a yo yo, it couldn't keep making the trip between two galaxies. It belonged in Pegasus and it needed to stay there.

The general regarded them all seriously. "I'll do what I can to get the IOA to listen to you. We need you more than you need us at the moment so they just might listen to reason. Are you willing to come back if we need you?"

"Of course," said Mr. Woolsey immediately.

O'Neill turned to Carson. "What is this scanner?" He snapped his fingers, pointing at the device in Carson's hand.

Carson handed it to him. "It's something we've developed here in the city. It's like a hand-held MRI. It's much easier to scan for the Goa'uld symbiotes this way."

O'Neill nodded, turning the scanner over in his hand, inspecting it at every angle. "And much more discreet. Can I keep this one?"

Carson traded a glance with Sheppard and Woolsey. Woolsey shrugged and then nodded.

"I suppose so," Carson said. "We have a couple more in ship's stores."

The general turned to Rodney. "Okay, McKay, I'm not going to say anything about the Asgard transporter you've suddenly acquired, but could you send me back down to the SGC please?"

"Sir, what about the Goa'uld?" asked John anxiously. He didn't feel good about leaving Earth now that he knew about this new threat.

O'Neill wiggled the handheld scanner. "I think I've got it covered, Sheppard. Right now I need you to get Atlantis to safety so I don't have to worry about the city being used against me. Ready, McKay?"

Rodney nodded. "Whenever you are, General."

O'Neill turned to John, "Good luck, Sheppard, you're going to need it. It would go a long way to smoothing things with the IOA if you could find us a weapon's chair."

Rodney started, "It just so happens…"

John nodded at the general, stepping in front of Rodney, cutting him off, "I'll see what we can pick up."

O'Neill took one last look around the room. He waved at them all and jerked his chin at Rodney.

The white beam enveloped O'Neill and then he was gone.

"Well, that went a lot better than I ever imagined." Rodney observed, his voice faint. "And why did you cut me off when the General asked about a control chair? You know that we've found one in every section of the city."

John sighed. His headache was gaining in intensity. Carson was beginning to fuss and mutter things like 'get you to the infirmary' under his breath. John didn't have time for the infirmary. He would lie through his teeth in order to avoid a trip to Carson's domain.

"Yes, and you've also said that you're not sure of their purpose. We don't want to give them up until we know what they're there for."

"You're just hoping that it means the city can be separated and the parts flown independently," Rodney accused. It had been a theory that had been floated.

"We've discussed this," Mr. Woolsey broke in. "And we've agreed that we won't go any further with that until more research has been done."

"Exactly," Rodney nodded in triumph.

"And we don't want to give them away until we know what they do," John pointed out wearily. "Alright," John looked around at his people. "Carson, can you start quietly testing our people to see if any of them have a symbiote in them?"

"Colonel?" Woolsey stepped forward. "Is there something we should know?"

John pinched his nose. His headache was thrumming making thinking hard. "Ba'al didn't say it, but I got the feeling he already had someone on Atlantis."

"That could be bad," Woosley observed.

"Yeah. So if Carson could just do checkups or something that wouldn't alert anyone?"

"I"ll get right on that, Colonel," Carson said.

"Good. Then let's get this show on the road."

"Show?" Rodney asked.

"You know what I mean, Rodney."

"Well then why don't you say what you mean?" Rodney stomped over to the control panel. He looked up to skewer John with a gimlet eye. "I need one of you down in the control chair. Miko's down there now and she's okay as long as we're not moving, but if you want flight and the shield it's going to require one of you." He included Carson and Lorne in his glare.

"I'll go," Lorne said. "Glad you're back, sir," he gave a clap to John's arm and then he headed for the transporter.

"Good, okay," Rodney nodded, bending over the panel.

John moved to stand where he could watch Rodney work. "How are we doing on power?" he asked quietly.

Rodney kept pushing buttons. When he was satisfied with whatever he was working on, he looked over at John. "Todd got us lots of ZPMS. Power we have. A quiet flight back to Pegasus would be greatly appreciated."

"I'll see what I can do," John smiled at him. "Thank you for getting me out of there."

"You just let them arrest you." Rodney pushed buttons savagely.

"What was I going to do, Rodney? If I'd resisted, they could have exposed our plan right there. I couldn't take that chance."

Rodney sighed. "I know. I just… I thought I was never going to see you again."

"Nah." John put his hand over Rodney's where it rested on the console. "You're stuck with me."

~~~~~

John couldn't escape Carson's clutches entirely. Carson insisted he come down for some tests just to make sure that John hadn't suffered any ill effects from his time in Ba'al's clutchtes. John thought Carson was just making absolute certain that John was… John. He managed to escape from the infirmary and Carson's clutches after only an hour of tests.

He might have complained, but John appreciated the affirmation from Carson that there was nothing in his head but John Sheppard. He'd already spent several hours with someone else in control of his body. He still remembered how helpless he'd felt when Thalan took over his body. How he'd shouted and screamed and raged while Thalan was rampaging through the city. He couldn’t do anything to help Ronon when Thalan had shot him, that was the most powerless he'd ever felt in his life. He couldn't do it again.

He found Rodney waiting for him in the hallway outside the infirmary.

He studied John gravely. "You you?" he asked.

"Nice, McKay," John rolled his eyes. He could always trust Rodney not to dance around a situation. He always said exactly what was on his mind. It was another one of those things that John liked so much about him.

"One hundred percent John Sheppard," he affirmed. His stomach rumbled loud enough they could both hear it.

"So, mess hall?" Rodney hazarded a guess.

John was weary. His headache wasn't any improved, but he hadn't told Carson because he knew if he had there would have been another hour of tests before he could get a simple pain killer.

"I'd rather just go take a shower," John admitted. He had a contraband bottle of painkiller in his desk drawer, too.

"Mr. Woolsey's called a meeting in an hour to plan our next course of action."

John nodded. "I figured. We on our way back to Pegasus?"

"We're on our way." They fell into step headed for the transporter.

"We going to use this new wormhole drive I've heard about?" John kind of envied Carson the fact that he got to pilot the city for that ride.

"Uh, no," Rodney snorted. "Radek's lucky he didn't blow up the whole city. The only reason he didn't was because he used my calculations. No, we're taking the slow hyperdrive route home. We could use the time to figure out what we're going to do before we get back to Pegasus and we're back to all crisis, all the time mode."

"Good idea," John said. He was still disappointed he wasn't going to get to fly the city using the wormhole drive.

"I'll go to the mess hall and grab you something while you shower," Rodney offered when they reached the transporter. The smile on his face was soft. "You look like you could fall over at any moment. The least I can do is get you food."

"That would be great, Rodney, thanks." John leaned forward until their heads rested together. "I thought I was never going to see you again," he admitted.

Rodney snorted, "Yeah, you're going to have to work harder than that to get rid of me."

He had a lifetime of repressing to overcome, but John couldn't help himself, he leaned in and kissed Rodney. Rodney responded eagerly, pushing John up against the wall. He welcomed John back to Atlantis in the best way possible with his tongue and teeth and mobile lips. John slid his hand into Rodney's hair, letting himself enjoy the freedom of being able to kiss the person he loved.

When they parted, they were both panting.

"So, I'm guessing we're getting rid of don't ask, don't tell?" Rodney murmured.

"It will be my recommendation. We're an international expedition; I don't think anyone's going to fight too hard to keep it."

"What about Lorne and the American soldiers?" There was worry in Rodney's eyes.

John smirked. "Rodney, our guys don't care about that. And obviously you don't know that Lorne's been sleeping with Radek for awhile now."

"I… what?" There was astonishment in Rodney's blue eyes. John loved surprising Rodney. He'd been saving that one for awhile. "No, he's not."

"Just ask him," John said. He stepped on the transporter and pushed the map for his quarters. He could still feel the warmth of Rodney's lips on his.

~~~~~

The door closed behind John with a soft woosh. He threw himself onto his bed. He was completely bushed. Who knew that staging a coupe was so much work? John had started his day with four hours in the chair. All of the gene bearers took a turn in the chair, Rodney had sent out a spread sheet with the schedule.

After his shift in the chair there'd been an interminable meeting to hammer out the details of their new society. John was on board with declaring their independence from Earth, but he would have liked for someone to just email him with the memo of what came next.

He groaned when there was a knock on the door.

"Unless we're under the imminent threat of a Wraith attack, go away." He knew that it couldn't be anything too urgent. Woolsey would have called him on his radio if it were a real emergency.

"John?" Rodney called, his voice uncertain.

"Come in," John barked. He scrubbed a hand through his hair and sat up.

The door opened to reveal Rodney standing there bouncing uncertainly from foot to foot.

"You're tired," he said. "I can come back later." He shifted like he was going to turn away.

"No," John launched himself from the bed. He caught Rodney's arm and drew him into the room. "You're just the person I wanted to see. Come in." He sat on the bed, patting the space next to him.

Rodney settled himself. He watched John anxiously. He jittered his knee.

Obviously ill at ease Rodney launched into the first rant he had ready, "That was an interesting meeting. I mean really, why would Woolsey think that he should be in charge now? Why shouldn't I be in charge of the city? I know the most about the technology and the city's inner workings…"

John smirked, "Maybe because he's good at it and you don't have time for it. Admit it, you'd hate it. Think of all the paperwork."

Rodney thrust out his chin stubbornly, "I will have you know that I would be a good and kind leader…"

He stopped when John broke up, his laugh warm and genuine.

"What?" Rodney scowled at him.

"Rodney, you're a lot of things but 'good' and 'kind' have never been used in your performance reviews."

"Hey," Rodney brightened. "No more performance reviews."

"Way to see the upside, McKay." John yawned as everything that had happened over the last 48 hours began to catch up with him. He hadn't slept since he'd dozed in his cell while in Ba'al's hands and that didn't really count as sleep.

Rodney pushed himself to his feet. "You're tired, I should go."

John caught his hand and pulled him back down. "Don't go yet. We could do something?"

Rodney swallowed. His whole body seemed to be thrumming, he was so full of nervous energy. "Well, uhm, maybe we could play chess or something?" He knee was back to bouncing up and down.

John put a hand on his knee. "Rodney, stop it."

Rodney's eyes went wide. "Stop? Are we breaking up already?"

John sighed. He really hated talking about feelings. Why had he thought that telling Rodney how he felt would be a good idea? Of course Rodney was going to want to over talk everything.

He took a deep breath. "No, Rodney we are not breaking up. I haven't gotten to do this nearly enough." John decided the best tactic would be to just go with what he was good at. He leaned in slowly, letting Rodney get used to the idea. Their lips met half way in a soft, tentative kiss. John didn't want to push too hard, he let Rodney set the pace.

Rodney gave a little moan and pushed forward hungrily. John had always thought that Rodney would be a good kisser. The man was good at anything he set his mind to, and kissing was no exception. He kissed like this might be his only chance.

"Well," Rodney pulled away so they could breath. He pressed little kisses to John's lips, "that went well."

John cupped his face with one hand. "Still think we're breaking up?"

Rodney smiled at him with his crooked smile. "Oh, you're stuck with me now."

"I think I can deal," John said. Then he yawned again.

"Okay," Rodney pushed John until he was flat on the bed. "It looks like it's time for all good colonels to be in bed."

John frowned, but he knew Rodney was right. It wasn't hard work sitting in the chair, but the concentration it took was taxing. He had been exhausted when his shift was done. Carson had insisted on testing anyone who sat in the chair because they'd never had to work in the chair in sustained shifts. He wanted to monitor everyone to make sure there weren't any side effects they needed to know about. Then came the meetings with Rodney, Woolsey, Teyla and Ronon trying to put together a charter for their city.

And tomorrow was going to be another day of the same.

John stayed where Rodney had put him, but he shoved a pillow under his back to prop himself up.

"Has Carson said how he was coming along with the scans?"

"He told the crew that it's all part of a physical to establish a base line of care now that we've declared our independence."

"Good idea," John nodded his approval. If they did have a Goa'uld spy on board they didn't want to tip them off.

"He told me he's had pretty good success getting everyone in. He's seen about half of the crew and he's cleared them. Do you really think there might be a Goa'uld on Atlantis?"

John shrugged. "I'd rather make sure before we get back to Pegasus. Wouldn't you?"

Rodney shuddered. "I don't even want to deal with the Goa'uld along with the Wraith."

"I'm with you there, buddy." The yawn this time was unexpected.

"Okay," Rodney stood, "that's my cue to go and let all good colonels go to sleep."

John leered at him. "Who said I was good?"

Rodney picked up a pillow and smacked him in the face. "You need to never do that again. I don't think it's as sexy as you think it is. Going now." He turned and left, the door closing behind him with a click.

John smiled at the door where Rodney had disappeared. He just knew it was a goofy grin, but he couldn't help himself. He had Atlantis and Rodney and they were going home.

~~~~~

The next few days were filled with more of the same. They were long, full days. John spent his share of time in the control chair. It drained him so much that he found himself falling asleep in the middle of meetings.

He and Rodney spent time together every night and they did more of what they'd always done – watched movies – arguing over every detail, raced cars, played chess – evidently they'd been dating longer than John realized. And then before Rodney would leave for the evening they would stretch out on John's bed and make out. It was so high school it was ridiculous, but John loved every minute.

One night as they were making out like teenagers the city shuddered around them. There was no other word for it.

Rodney pushed himself up, his hand still under John's shirt where he had been investigating the miles of flesh he had found there.

"What the hell?" Rodney got out before there was another shudder and the city tilted. They slid out of the bed, hitting the far wall with a thump.

John had the air knocked out of him. Rodney cried out, curling around his arm.

"What was that?" John demanded.

"How should I know? I was here with you." Rodney moaned, clutching his arm close to his body.

John pushed himself to his feet to go to help Rodney. Instead of the force of the artificial gravity that kept his feet solidly on the floor, he found himself floating into the air, overshooting Rodney who was slowly floating toward the ceiling.

"We've just lost gravity. Is that even possible?" John floated into the wall, fortunately he hadn't pushed off the floor very fast, or his collision with the wall could have been painful. He pushed himself off again, this time in Rodney's direction.

"Space ship," Rodney bit out. "I need to get to the control room."

"Okay." John reached Rodney and pulled Rodney's body into him, trying to be careful of Rodney's very obviously broken arm.

"Ow, ow, ow," Rodney moaned.

John hooked the hand that wasn't holding Rodney close into the latticework on the wall. He'd always thought they were just some Ancient's idea of interior decorating, but they acted as excellent handholds in Zero G. John took a look at Rodney; his arm was twisted at a angle that was clearly not meant by nature.

"Maybe I should take you to the infirmary first," John ventured.

Even though he was biting his lip hard enough to draw blood, Rodney shook his head. "No, we need to get to the control room. If the gravity's gone, something is seriously wrong." He kicked his feet, like he was trying to get moving on his own. Rodney was nothing if not stubborn.

John pulled him into his body tighter. "Okay, I'll get you there, buddy. It's not going to be pretty though."

Rodney took a deep breath. "Yeah, I kind of have an idea. Need my comm." He nodded towards John's side table where they'd put their comms for safe keeping. They were now floating in the air, along with everything in John's room that wasn't secured in some fashion.

John nodded. "You stay here," he helped Rodney tangle the fingers of his good arm in the lattice work on the wall. Once he was sure Rodney was anchored, John pushed himself toward the floating comms. He snagged one and put it into his ear, turning it on. He plucked Rodney's out of the air as he flipped himself in mid air and kicked off the wall to sail back towards Rodney. If the situation wasn't so fraught with peril he would be enjoying himself.

"Sheppard here," he said into the comm. "What's the situation?"

"Colonel," Sgt. Campbell's voice was urgent. "I'm glad to hear your voice, sir. We've dropped out of hyperspace and the gravity has gone haywire."

"Is that a technical term, Sergeant?" John settled next to Rodney. He placed the comm in Rodney's ear and activated it.

"What's our status, Sergeant?" Rodney demanded once he was settled, clinging to the Ancient latticework.

John kicked away to drag out his first aid kit. After Atlantis had been invaded by the Genii in their first year, they'd placed caches of weapons and first aid supplies around the city. John had squirreled an extra first aid kit in his quarters. He pulled it out and quickly found the inflatable splint.

"We're getting a lot of calls from all over the city," Campbell reported. "There were a lot of injuries when the gravity cut out. The infirmary is reporting that they're getting an influx of people there."

Rodney nodded. "Tell people not to use the transporters. With the gravity out we don't know what other systems are affected. They might not be safe to use."

"Will do," Chuck answered.

John tapped his radio. "Have you heard anything from Ronon and Teyla?"

"They're helping to get the injured to the infirmary. Mr. Woolsey is trapped in his office. And a lot of our people are trapped in their quarters."

"What about Lorne? Isn't he in the control chair right now?"

"Communications is out with the control chair."

"Okay," Rodney said grimly. "I need to get to the control room, now."

John nodded. He slid the splint on and inflated. Rodney ground his teeth through the procedure.

"Are you done yet?" he demanded. His good hand was clenched on John's arm so tightly that John was afraid of losing feeling in his own hand. "While I still have an arm."

John didn't take offense. It was Rodney's way of dealing with the situation. He situated Rodney's arm, then helped Rodney pull his jacket onto his good arm and situated it on the shoulder of his broken arm. He zipped it up with Rodney's splinted arm inside in an attempt to keep the arm mobilized.

"That's good," Rodney snapped. "Can we be done now?"

"Sure thing, buddy," John said. "You ready to head for the control room?"

Rodney bit his lip, but he nodded his assent.

John got them oriented in the direction of the door and kicked off. He nudged the door control with his mind, it slid aside to allow them to float through the door.

Once they were in the hall John caught a hand hold to get them aimed in the right direction then pushed off toward the transporter.

"So, no transporters?" he asked Rodney.

Rodney shook his head. "I don't think we should risk it. Who knows what caused the gravity to go haywire. It's a major system. If the gravity's gone, then there's no telling what else could go. I don't think it's worth the risk." Rodney gasped in pain when his arm brushed against the wall. John tried to keep their course true down the middle of the corridor but he didn't have a lot of practice navigating in zero g.

"The long way it is then." John said. Rodney whimpered quietly, but he didn't disagree with John.

John surveyed the hall in front of them. Anything that wasn't secured was now floating lazily - chairs, computer equipment, 10,000 year old plants and the occasional coffee cup were now hazards they had to avoid.

Many of the others residents of the city had moved to quarters farther away from the control room, the transporters kept everyone central to what was going on. Except when you shouldn't use them. Navigating them up the stairs was going to be easier in zero g. John was glad that, while he had moved from the cramped quarters he'd first lived in; he'd stayed close to the control room in the central spire.

Rodney moaned as John floated them down the hallway, but that was Rodney. He would complain and make sure everyone knew that he was injured, but he would also do whatever he had to do to save the city and its occupants. It struck John how much Rodney had changed over the years they'd been in Atlantis.

John had been attracted to Rodney from the beginning. He'd always had a thing for brains and Rodney had that in spades. At first John had been able to resist Rodney because of his abrasive personality and his all-about-me attitude. Then Rodney had walked into flying darkness to save everyone in the city without saying a word to anyone. John had been gone on him since that time.

He paused to check on Rodney. He was panting trying to work through the pain; his face was drained of all color.

"You doing okay, Rodney?"

"Seriously?" Rodney stared at John. "Are you seriously asking me that? No, don't answer that. Just get me to the control room so I can figure this out. Then you can take me to the infirmary where I want the good drugs. You tell Carson not to hold out on me or I'll make sure he never has gravity again."

"Sure, buddy." John tightened his arm around Rodney, trying to lessen the jostling of Rodney's arm. "Once we get back to Pegasus, we should get married." There was silence next to him. Rodney's whole body had tensed. Worry began to creep in. "What do you say?"

Rodney's tone when he spoke was testy, "I would have appreciated a little more of the bells and whistles. I don’t need you down on one knee, because really that's a stupid position, but I would have appreciated chocolate and maybe a good dinner first."

They were in the home stretch now. They hadn't seen anyone else in the halls which was a good thing. John could just imagine the mid-air collisions while trying to navigate around other people.

"I promise, once we're out of this, I'll make sure you get the chocolate and the wine."

"Don't forget the dinner," Rodney reminded him.

They were headed up the final staircase towards the control room.

"Dinner. You've got it. Steak or lobster?"

"Are you trying to kill me?"

John grinned, "So, steak it is."

He steered them into the control room.

They found Campbell there, along with Amelia Banks and three of John's marines. Chuck and Amelia were working at the computers, feverishly trying to come up with answers, the marines were their human anchors, keeping them at their workstations. John floated them to the panels where the techs moved out of the way.

John motioned for one his marines to anchor Rodney. The man moved in carefully, taking John's place at Rodney's side.

"Chuck, see if you can find something we can use to tether us to the ground." John ordered.

Chuck nodded and headed up to the jumper bay. It was a good idea, there would be rope and climbing equipment stored in the jumpers. Chuck would have to navigate the jumpers that John expected to be floating around in the jumper bay.

John turned to Rodney, "You find anything?"

"Oh, yes, I've found everything out in the 30 seconds I've had. Might I remind you that I only have one good arm here?"

John ignored Rodney's caustic tone. That was to be expected under the circumstances.

"Is there anything we can do to help?"

"Oh, this is not good," Rodney muttered. He was bent down over the computer, his feet were floating toward the ceiling, the marine had an arm around his waist keeping Rodney tethered in place.

"Anything I need to know about?" John kept his tone even and reasonable.

"This is definitely sabotage," Rodney worked as fast as he ever did. Having a broken arm didn't seem to be slowing him down at all. "The gravity was definitely turned off."

John sucked in a breath. "As in sabotage?" It had been in the back of his mind, but he'd been hoping it wasn't true.

Rodney nodded unhappily.

"Sir, you need to see this." Amelia gestured at their long-range sensors.

John pushed himself over to look at the screen. He overshot his position and would have kept floating if he hadn't twisted in midair and snagged Amelia's arm. He came around until he could see the long-range sensors.

"Is that…?"

She nodded. "Yes, sir. It's a ship heading this way."

"We're still in the Milky Way galaxy, aren't we?" he asked thoughtfully.

"Yes, sir."

"That's not one of our ships coming to help us, is it?" He could hope.

"No, sir. All of our ships were damaged in the fight with the Wraith ship. This has a Goa'uld signature."

John felt his stomach fall in an all too literal sense as everyone in the room dropped to the floor. Rodney was expecting it, so he was the only one in the room that landed on his feet. Still, his face took on a grey tinge with the return of the gravity. He moaned and clutched the control panel to keep himself on his feet. John had a nightmare vision of Chuck Campbell in the jumper bay with the jumpers falling on top of him.

"We have gravity back, sir" one of the marines observed.

Rodney turned his best how-are-you-so-stupid look on him. "Thank you Private Obvious. Go check the jumper bay and make sure nothing fell on Campbell."

The marine saluted him and hurried off.

John was going to have bruises later from his own landing, but he didn't have time to worry about it. He pushed himself to his feet.

Rodney tapped his comm. "Radek, we need you up here five minutes ago," he snapped impatiently. "We have a situation."

Zelenka stalked into the control room. "Why could you not stay in quarters?" he shouted at Rodney. "Would be better for everyone." He was red-in-the-face angry. Radek had been angry at Rodney before, but this was a fury like John had never seen before.

John didn't know what was wrong with Radek, but he put himself between the two scientists. "Listen, Dr. Z, I know we're all a little stressed here, but we need to work…"

Radek backhanded John sending him flying. John landed on his back staring up at the ceiling. He scrambled to his feet to launch himself at Zelenka. The marines were already headed toward the scientist.

Radek snarled. His eyes glowed. He threw one of the marines into the other. He snatched the weapon from the man's holster. The marines went down in a tangle of limbs. Before John had a chance to stop him, Radek had an arm around Rodney's neck, the gun was turned in John's direction.

"If you take another step, I will break his neck," Radek snarled.

"This can not be happening," Rodney gasped. "You crazy Czech what are you doing? Let me go right now." He scrabbled with his good hand at Radek's arm over his throat. It wasn't doing any good. His face was turning an alarming shade of red.

"I will kill him, Colonel. You should believe that."

John held his hands up. He motioned for the marines to back off. "What do you want?"

"My master is coming," Radek indicated the long range sensors and the signal that was getting closer to them. "When he arrives, you will welcome him and give him whatever he wants."

"You're talking about Ba'al, right?" John took a step to the right. Radek dragged Rodney around to follow his movements.

"Do not think that you can best me, Colonel. My host thinks that you will be able to trick me and save him, but he is wrong…"

Ronon stepped out of the shadows from behind Radek; he drew his blaster and shot Radek in the back.

It didn't take him down, from their experiences with Colonel Caldwell they knew that it wouldn't. But it weakened him for a moment. It was long enough for John to pull Rodney away. Rodney screamed when his broken arm was jerked, but he shuffled away as quickly as he could.

Teyla stepped forward then. She shot Radek with the taser she held. He went down, his eyes flashing.

"Please, Colonel," Radek whispered. "I do not want to hurt anyone. Do not let me hurt anyone."

John knelt down next to Radek. "Don't worry, Dr. Z, we know how to take care of this. Remember? We've done this before. Quick, what can you tell me about Ba'al's plans?"

Radek licked his lips. His eyes flashed. "You can not win human," the Goa'uld snarled.

John nodded at Teyla. She pulled the trigger on the taser again. Radek's body arced.

Radek panted, but when he looked up at John, it was Radek again. "Ba'al does not have support. He is alone among the system lords that are left and he is trying to rebuild his army of jaffa. He thought that he would do that in Pegasus. He plans to take the city and use us to gain a foothold." Radek's eyes flashed and he growled. "You will all bow to Ba'al as a god."

"Think again, buddy." John nodded at Teyla.

Teyla squeezed the trigger on the taser one last time. Radek's eyes closed and lolled to the side.

"Is he?" Rodney clutched John's shoulder.

"No, he's just unconscious," John caught Rodney around the waist as he started to sag. He got Rodney into one of the chairs.

"Someone get Carson up here. You two," he gestured at the marines. "Take Dr. Zelenka down to a holding cell until we have time to get that Goa'uld out of him." He sat down next to Rodney. He looked up at Ronon with a rueful grin.

"Glad to see you buddy. Anyone ever tell you, you have great timing?"

Ronon grinned wolfishly, "I was just waiting for you to get done talking. You trying to talk him to death?"

"It was a plan."

"What are we going to do about Ba'al?" Teyla asked. She was watching the dot on the long range sensors as it continued on its route to the city.

Amelia had finally convinced Mr. Woolsey's office to let him out. Carson came into the control room on the run, he went immediately to Rodney's side where he started to fuss.

Rodney pushed him away. "I don't have time for this. We have a Goa'uld on our doorstep."

"Colonel?" Mr. Woolsey looked around the control room. "Next time you have a party, be sure to invite everyone."

John took a deep breath running options and scenarios at top speed. "Lorne's in the control chair right now. Do we have communications with him again?"

"Here, Colonel," Lorne answered them on the all city. "Power was out to the chair for a while and I was locked in, but everything seems to be good now." He reported.

John huffed out a breath, thinking fast. "Can't he just shoot that ship?"

Rodney shook his head. "The Tel'tak is pretty tough. The Goa'uld have been at war with each other for thousands of years and they've developed some pretty advanced ships. Ba'al's also known for his own advancements in ship design and weaponry."

"Any suggestions?" Woolsey looked around the room as if hoping the answer would be written on one of the view screens.

John rubbed the back of his neck wishing that Rodney had come up with something. "I have an idea but you're not going to like it."

Rodney frowned at him. "Does it involve you risking your life on some idiotic stunt?"

John chose to ignore the question and plowed on. "Listen, Rodney, you said that the city was designed so that the separate pieces would operate independently. I think we need to do that, separate the city," he spread his hands to show the parts of the city flying off in different directions. "Then we can confuse Ba'al. He only has one ship, so he's going to have to choose one of us to follow. The rest of us can surround him and weaken him until Lorne or I can get in a kill shot. You know kind of like wolves."

Rodney shook his head. "I knew it was a mistake to let you watch Teen Wolf."

"That's a great show," John said. "What's not to like? It has werewolves…"

"Werewolves," Rodney's voice dripped with disdain.

"Gentlemen," Woolsey interrupted them. "I think we have bigger things to worry about."

John turned back to Woolsey. "This can work," he insisted. "Lorne," he tapped his comm. "Did you get that?"

"Yes, sir," Lorne said. "I think it will work, Mr. Woolsey. The Goa'uld are tough. But if Ba'al's alone, like Radek said, then we have a good chance of stopping him right here."

"Alright, Colonel, how many people do you have who can fly the city?"

"We are not going to do this." Rodney's voice rose over everything else.

John rubbed the back of his neck. "I don’t see that we have any other options. Do you have any better ideas?"

There was silence in the control room as they all looked at Rodney. Carson fussed over him working to stabilize his arm since Rodney refused to go to the infirmary. Rodney grumbled, but he let Carson work.

"Fine," Rodney spat out. "I don't have a better plan."

~~~~~

It took longer to get the plan together than John was comfortable with. By the time he got the pilots – himself, Carson, Miko and Lorne, up to speed on the plan and the hows of separating the city's sections, the Tel'tak was almost on top of them.

John, along with Lorne, Carson and Miko were in the control chairs. They had the strongest genes and the most skill in using the control chair. Rodney had told him about the ranking system they'd developed to rank the gene carriers and their aptitude with the control chair – the chair interface aptitude. They must be the top four.

Rodney had set up his lap top on a console so he could monitor John. As much as John wanted him in the infirmary, he was glad that Rodney was there with him where he could keep an eye on him.

"Colonel," Woolsey interrupted their preparations.

"Mr. Woolsey?"

"We're receiving a communication from Ba'al. He's demanding that we surrender or he will destroy us."

A HUD popped up to show John the control room. Teyla and Ronon were there with Mr. Woolsey. They were tasked with keeping that part of the city safe. John knew it was in good hands.

The main part of Atlantis' population was there in the center spire. It was the most well-protected part of the city. It was piloted by Carson, he had instruction to head away from the action and keep Sheppard and Lorne between him and Goa'uld ship. Miko had the same directions.

"Stall him as long as you can, we're ready to start separating the city's sections now."

"I'll do the best I can, Woolsey out."

The view of the main control room disappeared. It was replaced by the faces of the other pilots – Miko, Carson and Lorne, in their control chairs waiting for the word from him.

"Is everyone ready?" John asked. He studied their faces on the screen in front of him.

"Ready, sir." Lorne was busy doing last minute checks on his systems.

"Aye, lad." Carson looked ill-at-ease as he always did when interacting with the Ancient tech. But he'd acquitted himself well on the journey to Earth, John knew he would do okay. He was reliable informed that Carson had a CIA ranking of 2.

"I am ready, Colonel Sheppard." Miko was so earnest. She blinked at him, her eyes huge through the lenses of her glasses. John was worried about her. She'd never had to do anything as complex as they were doing today, but she had her instructions. She'd nodded earnestly at the briefing and assured them all that she could do it. He had to trust her.

John took a breath and leaned back, letting himself sink into the interface with the city. Suddenly he was part of the city. He could feel the power thrumming through him; see everyone in their rooms in the central spire, the part of the city that Carson was piloting. Most of their population was in that part of the city, because it was the most protected. Along with Ronon and Teyla, half of the military contingent was on that part of the city in case things went sideways and Ba'al somehow got on board.

The rest of the military was divided between the other 3 city-ships. Miko had Anne Teldy and her team with half a dozen marines. Lorne had his team along with Markham and a group of marines. John had the remaining marines with him. They were at alert outside the control chair room, on guard at the door. John privately thought that if Ba'al made it that far, the guards wouldn't make much difference. But he felt better knowing they were there.

"Jumper bay, are you ready to go?"

Anyone else who had the ATA gene and any iota of piloting abilities were in the jumpers. They were the bait to draw Ba'al out and to confuse him.

When he received an affirmative from the jumper bay, John took a deep breath. "Alright, you have a go."

The hope was that Ba'al would be focused on the jumpers and miss what was happening with the city until it was too late. The city would be vulnerable while the sections were disengaging. An attack while they were in that process could be fatal to everyone.

John watched through Atlantis' sensors as the 'jumpers rose through the iris and streamed toward the Tel'tak. They were all so small. None of the pilots had any experience in a fire fight in space. Hell most of them didn't have any experience in a fire fight on the ground. He'd pulled the pilots from Rodney's group of scientists because he wanted to have his soldiers in each of the separate parts of the city in case Ba'al managed to get aboard. He hoped he wasn't sending them all to their deaths.

The jumpers swarmed the Tel'tak. It stopped its flight. They darted in to take shots, but their drones had little effect on the Tel'tak's shields.

"Ba'al is charging weapons," Rodney said, his fingers dancing across the keys of the panels in front of him. His arm was now in a sling. He would only consent to a mild pain killer because he'd refused to spend the fight in the infirmary. There were lines of pain on his face, but he kept working doggedly.

It was going to have to be now or never. Ba'al was as distracted as he was ever going to be. "Alright, Rodney," John said aloud so that everyone could hear him. "Start the separation sequence."

The multitudes of clamps that held the city together disengaged. Hulls sealed and shut, lines that spread across the city retracted. Shields sprang into being protecting the city in 4 distinct sections. It thrilled John to his bones to feel the city dancing as she was designed to do. He was sorry that it was forced upon them. He hoped that Rodney would let them do this again later when they weren't on the defensive and fighting for their lives.

Once they were free, John fired his own thrusters and felt the city-ship respond to his requests.

"Ba'al is firing on the 'jumpers." Rodney reported, his voice thick with emotion. "If you're going to do something, do it now."

John eased his city-ship away from its three fellow ships. "Alright, Carson, you and Miko keep me and Lorne between you and the Goa'uld ship, but fire at will. Be careful of the jumpers. Jumpers, move away now. You know where the rendezvous point is."

The four city-ships were flying independently now, moving to intercept the Goa'uld ship.

Ba'al was firing after the jumpers, beams of light lit up the darkness of space. The 'jumpers buzzed around the Tel'tak like bees. Their shots were next to useless, the Tel'tak's shields just dispersed the energy and it remained unharmed.

One of Ba'al's shots got a solid hit on a jumper. It tumbled away, spinning out of control.

"Someone go after that 'jumper," John ordered, not waiting to see if he was obeyed. Ba'al was moving again and the Tel'tak was headed for the central spire where Carson and most of their population was housed.

"Oh, no, you don't," John growled. "Lorne?"

"On it, sir."

Navigating a city-ship was different than flying a 'jumper. The city-ships were big and unwieldy. It was more like piloting a barge. Turning it was like trying to get a herd of cattle turned. John kept nudging the city in the direction he wanted it to go until he was gaining on the Tel'tak. Lorne was right beside him.

The Tel'tak was firing on Carson's city-ship. John was getting reports on shield strength and estimates of probably time until shield failure on Carson's ship from both Rodney and Atlantis.

"Lorne," John said tersely. "Fire at will."

"Rodney, do we have enough drones to do any damage?" John bit out.

Rodney frowned down at his screen, clearly not liking the answer he came up with. "We have plenty of drones," he answered. "That's not the problem."

"And the problem is?" John gritted his teeth as Ba'al tried to ram through John and Lorne to get to Carson.

"You're going to have to hit a key component of Ba'al's ship in order to do enough damage to cripple the Tel'tak."

"Rodney," John brought the city-ship around so that they were between Carson and the Tel'tak, "tell me what to target on that thing to blow it out of our space."

"Weapons systems are pretty well protected, but if you could hit those, it would be over for Ba'al. Otherwise, if you could hit life support, it would damage the ship. He'd have to stop to repair it."

Lorne had swung in beside John so that they were side by side protecting Carson and the rest of the city. They were sending volleys of drones against the Goa'uld ship in an effort to weaken the shields.

"Fuck," Rodney moaned. "Every time part of his shields weakens, Ba'al turns his ship so that he's got his strongest side to his. Can you or Lorne get around him?"

John shook his head. Ba'al had them pinned down. If either he or Lorne moved, it left Carson's city-ship vulnerable.

"Lorne," John shouted, "Keep up the barrage."

John and Lorne pounded the Tel'tak, not doing any appreciable damage, just keeping the Goa'ulds attention focused on them. Because at that moment Miko was coming up behind the Tel'tak where the ships' shields were the weakest.

"Come on, Miko," John whispered almost afraid that if he spoke it Ba'al would be able to hear them. "Take your shot."

Miko kept her course, coming nearly nose to nose with the Goa'uld ship. John and Lorne kept up their barrage of drones, aggressively pushing forward whenever it seemed that the Tel'tak might be starting to change its course.

John gripped the handrests of the chair, forced to watch as Miko's city-ship crept closer and closer to Ba'al.

Ba'al did try to turn away at the last minute. By then it was too late. Miko launched a succession of drones that pounded at the Goa'uld ship in the weakest part of its shields.

"Yeah, Miko," Rodney breathed. He'd stopped what he was doing, his eyes glued to the HUD that displayed Miko's small city-ship next to the might of the Goa'uld ship. It was like David and Goliath. Only David wore glasses the size of pop bottles and had a sweet, shy smile.

She fired another drone that punched through the shield on the Tel'tak. There was a sparkling of light that danced over the ship. like a windshield splintering. There were small explosions on the skin of the ship.

Lorne and Sheppard stepped up their own barrage.

"That's it," Rodney announced. "His shields just collapsed."

Miko let loose one last drone. It hit Ba'al's ship square on. It blew up in a ball of fire. The concussion of the blast spread out from the ship in a wave. They were all close to Ba'al's ship and the explosion, too close. The sensors in John's control room broke up, overloaded with the concussion of the explosion. It exploded in John's mind, too, splintering everything into blackness.

~~~~~~

John woke up in the infirmary. He wasn't quite certain how he got there. But he was glad he was lying down, because his head felt like someone had put an ice pick through it. He was pretty sure he shouldn't be piloting anything.

"Glad to see you back in the world of the living." A voice beside him caused John to roll his head in the voice's direction. He was surprised to find Colonel Caldwell sitting next to his bed.

John blinked at him trying to figure out what had happened. "Are you here to arrest us?"

Caldwell crossed his arms and stretched his legs out in front of him. "No, we just came to offer aid. It looked like you needed it." He gestured to the infirmary at large with a jerk of his chin.

John ignored the ice pick in his head long enough to push himself up on one elbow to see that Rodney was asleep in the bed next to his. His now-casted arm rested on a pillow at his side. Beyond Rodney he could see Lorne and Miko.

"The explosion that took out Ba'al left the three of you dead in the water." Caldwell explained. "We were tracking Ba'al's ship from Earth. When General O'Neill saw where it was headed, he dispatched the Daedalus. We don't have weapons yet, but we thought we'd just be picking up survivors and offering humanitarian aid. You can imagine how surprised we were to find everyone alive and relatively well."

"So you're not here to arrest us and take us back to Earth?" John was finding it hard to wrap his head around the fact that not only had they survived the battle with Ba'al, but Earth was letting them go so easily.

Caldwell grinned wolfishly. "Woolsey wouldn't even let us board, much less near any of you until we gave him our pledge that we were only here to supply aid."

"What happened?" John remembered Miko's final shot, but everything after that was blank.

"You'll have to get that story from somebody else, because nobody will tell me anything." Caldwell stood and stretched. "I just wanted to stick around and make sure you were okay."

"Okay," John said. He was a little confused. He and Caldwell had never been close.

"And I wanted to give you a status report on what the General found with the information you gave him."

John nodded, he settled himself back on the pillows trying to look alert. He still had a monster headache and he ached like he hadn't moved for at least a couple of days.

"General O'Neill has been busy since you left Earth. He's paid a visit to most of the members of the IOA on a diplomatic junket. Several of them have been implanted with a Goa'uld symbiote. We can't reveal it because most of the world doesn't know anything about aliens and other worlds, but he's taking private steps to remove the symbiotes. He says if you can pay up on the control chair, he doesn't think anyone is going to argue with you over Atlantis' independence."

John stared at Caldwell, his mouth agape, trying to get his mind around the facts.

"That's good," he managed to get out. "That the general found the symbiotes, not that there are symbiotes." The spike was becoming more insistent and there were black dots dancing in front of his eyes.

Carson appeared at his bedside. He inserted something into the IV that John was just realizing he had.

"Colonel, just lie still," he instructed. "I told Colonel Caldwell not to be bothering you." Carson's frown in Caldwell's direction was fierce.

John caught Carson's sleeve. "What happened?" He fought against the pull of whatever sedative Carson had given him.

Carson laid John's arm down on the bed. But he must have seen the urgency in John's face.

"Miko did fire the shot that blew up Ba'al's ship. The explosion caused a sort of concussion wave that caused a wee bit of damage to the city-ships – yours and Lornes and Mikos because you three were closest. Because you were connected to the ships at the time of the damage, you were all three affected. Now that you're awake I can run some tests to make sure that none of your neural functions were harmed."

"What about you?" John really wanted to give into the rest promised by the sedative, he just needed to make sure everyone was alright first.

"I was the farthest away. We were rocked a bit by the concussion wave, but it was not too serious. I was able to get the city joined back together so we could tend to the injured. I've been a bit worried about the three of you, I'm glad to see you awake."

John nodded. "Radek?"

"Colonel Caldwell has agreed to let Hermiod help us in the removal of the symbiote from Radek as a gesture of goodwill."

John smiled up at the Colonel. "Thanks."

Caldwell awkwardly patted the blanket near John's leg. "You're welcome. Now why don't you rest and we can talk more later?"

John waited until Caldwell was gone before he asked the final question. "Rodney?"

Carson gestured to where Rodney slept. "He's stubborn as they come. He's refused to leave the infirmary until you woke up." He saw the concern in John's eyes. "He'll have to have some physical therapy for his arm, but all in all he's fine. Worried about you." Carson smiled. "It's about time."

"I don't know what you're talking about," John let the sedative pull him down secure in the knowledge that the situation was contained.

~~~~~~

Carson released John, Lorne and Miko back to duty the next day. Miko was quiet and withdrawn, but she smiled at John shyly when he thanked her.

"It was my turn to save the city," she told him, a spark of pride in her eyes. "You and Dr. McKay must let the rest of us take a turn," she said firmly.

Rodney surprised everyone when he hugged her with his one good arm. "You did good work, Doctor."

She blushed and looked away from his steady gaze. "Thank you."

Carson ordered everyone but necessary personnel out of the infirmary for the next order of business.

John joined the group standing out of the way observing – Mr. Woolsey was there, along with Colonel Caldwell. Ronon had his weapon at the ready. Lorne was there, too, leaning against the wall. He was trying to look relaxed and unconcerned and missing it by a mile. Rodney tapped on his cast with his good hand, unconsciously drawing figures on it with a finger.

Radek's eyes flashed when they beamed him to the infirmary. He surveyed the medical team with cool disdain, dismissing them. He swept the infirmary with his gaze. When he saw John he took a step in that direction. There were half a dozen marines in the room; they all had their weapons trained on Radek before he could take a second step. He laughed, it was a harsh sound, devoid of humor. He addressed them all with a cold smile lurking on his lips.

"I'm sure you think you have won." Radek's voice in the strange raspy Goa'uld tones sent cold chills down John's back. "But I tell you that you have lost."

Rodney shouldered his way forward. "Looks to me like we won the war."

Radek sneered. "How little you know. My master will make you all bow before him."

Rodney's chin jutted out stubbornly. "Unless I'm mistaken your master is a thousand individual atoms scattered in space."

Radek's lips twisted in a sneer. "You do not think that my master was in that ship? You humans deserve to be taken and subjugated if you are that stupid."

"I'll show you how stupid we are," Woolsey snapped. He strode forward. "You can remove the Goa'uld now."

There was a flash of white light. It coalesced around Radek, surrounding him until they couldn't see him anymore. Then it was gone and Radek blinked at them.

"I am sorry," he got out before he folded and crumpled to the floor. Lorne was there and caught him before he could hit the floor.

Sheppard knelt next to them as they waited for Carson.

"Why don't you stay with Radek and make sure that he's alright? Report back to me later," he said quietly.

Lorne's smile grew, "Yes, sir," he said. He followed, keeping out of the way, as the medical team took charge and got Radek into a bed.

John assured himself that there was nothing else he could do on that front before he turned to Mr. Woolsey.

"I'm taking Rodney and putting him to bed now," he declared.

Mr. Woolsey's brow raised but he didn't object.

"Wait? What?" Rodney turned red as far down as John could see. "He doesn't mean he's taking me to bed, he's just being a good friend and making sure I get there okay." He glared at John.

John took his elbow. "Relax, Rodney, even if Don't Ask, Don't Tell wasn't already gone, we wouldn't include it in the new rules and regs for the military of the city. Besides you're not up to much more then tucking in."

Rodney did look exhausted from the events of the last few days. There were circles under his eyes, and he carried himself carefully as if any movement might elicit pain. Still he protested, "As much as I would like nothing better than to lie down right now, the city needs me. There are repairs to be done from our encounter with Ba'al."

John started pulling him away. "The city isn't going to spontaneously explode if you take a break for a few hours."

"You don’t know that," Rodney asserted stubbornly, although he didn't resist as John guided him toward the transporter.

"Maybe not for certain, but evidence suggests that I'm probably right." The transporter deposited them in the corridor where Rodney's quarters were located.

Rodney looked around the hallway blearily almost seeming to be surprised. He balked as John tried to pull Rodney to his door.

"I've got work to do," he insisted again.

"Tell you what; I'll lie down with you. Carson did tell me to rest."

"Really?" Rodney's interest was piqued. He let John lead him into his room.

He stood and let John ease his shirt off over his broken arm. John knelt to take off Rodney's shoes.

"You look really good down there," Rodney commented hopefully.

John kissed Rodney's stomach and stood. "You know as much as I would love to give you a blow job, I'm pretty sure you'd go to sleep in the middle of it right now." Rodney's yawn proved his point.

John manhandled Rodney to the bed, where he took off his pants. Rodney laid back on the pillows in his t-shirt and boxers. His casted arm rested across his stomach. Rodney's eyes were at half-mast, he was already half the way to sleep. He stirred when John didn't immediately join him.

"You coming to bed?" He peered up at John with sleepy eyes. John found the look adorable, although he'd never tell Rodney that. Rodney would give him a lecture on how he wasn't adorable.

John's plan had been to stay until Rodney went to sleep and then he had intended to go back to work. They really did have a lot of repairs to get done before they could continue their journey home. At Rodney's plaintive look, he shrugged off his shirt and kicked off his shoes. He crawled into the bed, tucking himself around Rodney, careful of his arm. The sign of a good plan was its flexibility.

"This better?" He kissed Rodney's neck.

"Mmmmm…" Rodney responded. "Much."

John stole half the pillow. "You never did give me an answer. Will you marry me?"

"It was a stupid question," Rodney snorted.

John felt his heart sink. Rodney didn't want to marry him?

Rodney smacked him on the head. "It's stupid because it shouldn't need an answer. Of course I'm going to marry you. But I still get dinner."

John smiled, breathing in the scent of him – it was a little sour from pain and drugs, but at the bottom it was pure Rodney.

"Whatever you want," he wrapped his arms around Rodney and let himself drift; finally he was in the one place in two galaxies he wanted to be.

Sometime later in the Pegasus Galaxy:

The morning of the wedding dawned bright and clear. John woke to the sun shining on his face. He had told Ronon the night before that he was taking the day off from running. So, all he had to do was turn over and burrow into Rodney's warmth.

Rodney woke slowly, blinking at John. "Hey," he said.

"You want to get married today?" John asked.

Rodney hmmmed low. "It's going to be a circus. Maybe we should elope."

John barked out a laugh. "It would serve Woolsey right."

John and Rodney had wanted a small service with only their closest friends there, maybe Jeannie if they could convince Earth to allow her to come through the SGC's gate.

Mr. Woolsey had taken the occasion and turned it into a diplomatic tour de force. He had invited all of their allies and anyone they were hoping to be allies with as an announcement in the biggest way possible that they were back in the Pegasus Galaxy.

The wedding was going to be held in the gate room, so it was literally standing room only. Some of their allies couldn't be allowed near others of their allies because they were mortal enemies, so Woolsey had drawn up a plan more involved than a plan of battle to make sure that the day would go off without a hitch.

The rehearsal had taken an entire evening. John knew he'd looked like a deer in the headlights when Mr. Woolsey assured him that all he had to do was show up and say, 'I do.'

"Stop thinking," Rodney murmured. He pulled John in closer, throwing his leg over John's hip. He rocked his hips forward suggestively.

"Pre-wedding nookie?" Rodney asked hopefully.

"I'm saving myself for my wedding night," John told him primly. Then he ruined it by laughing. He flopped onto his back, pulling Rodney on top of him.

"It's a good thing I love you," Rodney said, the movement of his hips taking on more urgency.

John grinned, kissing him.

~~~~~

John was glad he and Rodney had time in the morning or he might not have made it through the service.

The gate room was packed. It really was standing room only. There were people crammed onto the gate room floor, they flowed up the stairs and stood at the balconies watching.

Ronon grinned at John when John looked around the gate room checking out the escape routes. It wasn't that John didn't want to marry Rodney. It was just that there were so many people there. He felt hemmed in all sides. Ronon clapped a hand on John's shoulder to hold him in place as Rodney made his way through the crowd to take his place at John's side. Teyla fell into step beside him, escorting him.

Waiting at the gate while Rodney walked down the gate room stairs to join John at the gate had been a highlight of John's day. John had always thought Rodney handsome, but as he walked toward John in his blue suit with the sunlight from the windows falling on him limning him in light, John's breath caught at his beauty. Yeah, he wouldn't be saying that to Rodney anytime soon or his ego wouldn't fit in their bed with both of them, but he was beautiful. And he was marrying John.

As Rodney approached, he eyed John nervously. Suddenly all of John's nerves were gone. When they were together, there wasn't anything he and Rodney couldn't do. He held out his hand and Rodney took it, squeezing firmly.

John leaned in and kissed him. For a moment he forgot the room and all the people and lost himself in Rodney.

Mr. Woolsey cleared his throat.

"That comes at the end of the service," he said severely, but his smile spoke more eloquently of how happy he was for them.

Rodney turned to Teyla, and they exchanged the Athosian embrace. Rodney pulled her into a hug afterwards. Teyla turned to John and they touched foreheads. Teyla was beautiful in the robes she wore as leader of the Athosian. She was at the wedding not just as their friend, but as an ally of Atlantis.

She stepped away from John and bowed her head to him briefly before taking her place as the leader of the ceremony. Ronon joined her. He was dressed as he must have before he was a runner. He wore a suit with a vest, his dreads were pulled back and his beard was trimmed. He looked much younger and more relaxed. Today he was John and Rodney's friend alone and not the fierce warrior that defended all he loved from the Wraith.

Teyla began, "Friends, it is with great joy that we stand before the gate of the Ancients today."

That was pretty much all that John remembered of the words of the ceremony. He remembered clinging to Rodney's hand like it was a life line, and Rodney gripped his hand back just as hard. Lorne was standing to the side, taking pictures of everything. The picture he took of John and Rodney standing in front of the gate holding hands as if their lives depended on it, sat on John's bedside years later as a memory of the day.

Today, Lorne kept making a nuisance of himself, putting himself in their path and saying, "Smile for the camera." John would have hit him if he hadn't asked Lorne to take the photographs.

Radek and Carson stood behind John and Rodney as their witnesses and to hold them up if they passed out.

John got his lines in all the right places, mostly because Carson stood behind him and prompted him when it was his turn. He panicked when Teyla asked for the rings that would bind them one to another. He searched his pockets and came up empty. Carson coughed meaningfully. When John turned, Carson pressed the ring box into his hand.

The rings had been made in Pegasus by an Athosian artisan that Teyla had recommended. They were simple circles. The metal was the same material that Atlantis was made from. On the inside, they were inscribed with the gate symbol for Atlantis. It had been John's idea because if it weren't for Atlantis, he and Rodney would never have found each other.

John slid the ring onto Rodney's finger and cheering erupted around them.

"You are joined," Teyla's smile was joyful. "May you take care of each other in bad weather and good, in bad times and good, be a comfort and succor to each other. May you have joy in your union and be happy all the days of your life."

There was a pause as they waited for more.

Ronon grinned, mischief dancing in his eyes. "Well, what are you waiting for? Kiss him."

John turned to Rodney. Before he could even move, Rodney grabbed the lapels of his suit and pulled John into a kiss.

~~~~~

Their honeymoon was on the mainland. They'd had offers from several of their allies, but neither of them had wanted to be too far away from Atlantis in case they were needed.

They took a jumper and camped on the beach. John brought his surf board and spent some time enjoying the waves. Rodney brought his computer and sat on the shore while John surfed, pretending to work.

John waded to shore; he threw himself down beside Rodney.

"Do you ever wonder if we did the right thing?" He stared out over the water. It was an alien planet; he was surfing on an alien ocean. Sometimes their sci-fi lives caught up to him.

Rodney set his computer aside. "You mean by coming back to Pegasus? Yes we did the right thing. They need us here."

"Sometimes I wonder if we haven't made things worse. We woke up the Wraith."

"No, just stop right there," Rodney crawled into John's lap. "Pegasus was dying by inches. You've shown them that they can fight back. The Wraith are on the run."

Rodney put his arms around John. "We've sent the control chair back to Earth, so they're protected, too. Enjoy yourself, okay."

John let himself relax into Rodney's embrace. "What do we do now?"

"Go on like we have before? Making allies, fighting the Wraith."

"We've declared our independence, Rodney. People are going to want to start living their lives. Lorne and Radek are looking for a place together."

Rodney stared at him in horror. "I thought I told you not to tell me things like that."

John laughed, hugging Rodney to him. Rodney was getting damp. "What about us? Are we going to have children, raise a family? Just grow old together and terrorize future generations on Atlantis?"

Rodney smiled. He dipped down to press a kiss on John's bare shoulder. "I like the sound of that. Kids? I've not really thought about it."

"Maybe we should."

"Do we have to do it today?" Rodney grumbled. "I'm just getting used to the thought of marriage."

"I'm sure there's some Ancient device around that will make us kids," John said just to hear Rodney shriek.

"What do you know? Has Atlantis been telling you things?"

John smirked. "Nah, but if we were a sci-fi show there would be a device to incubate our kids."

Rodney kissed John's neck, sucking a little the way John liked.

John jumped up, dumping Rodney into the sand. "Come on, Rodney," John wheedled. "Let me give you a surfing lesson."

"And drown out there? Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Besides I liked the way things were going here on the shore." Rodney indicated the tenting of John's board shorts.

"I can make it worth your while," John said. He pushed his shorts down, kicking them off. He stood before Rodney naked.

Rodney gaped up at John.

John held out his hand. "Come on, Rodney, the water's great."

Rodney let John pull his shorts off and lead him out to the water.

Rodney balked as the waves lapped over his feet. "Wait, you meant sex right? You're really not going to make me surf, are you?"

John wrapped himself around Rodney, kissing him. "Yeah, Rodney, I was talking about sex. The surfing lessons come later."

They were back in Pegasus. The Wraith were still there, along with every problem they'd left behind when they'd gone to help save Earth. But it felt like everything had changed.

They'd declared their independence. Earth was willing to talk about being allies, but they were going to have to rely on themselves. They'd lost a lot of people they loved. But they'd found a lot of people to love, too. And John had Rodney. And that was worth everything.