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Author's Chapter Notes: This chapter is more about Atlantis and how they survived being cut completely off. I don't know when I get the next chapter out, so enjoy this one and tell me how you liked it.


DISCLAIMER: I do not own Stargate: Atlantis.
Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions.
I have written this story for entertainment purposes only and no money whatsoever has exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author(s).
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Chapter Four

The Tour

It was a new morning in the city of Atlantis. The New Lantean sun was rising in the sky and there were almost no clouds visible. It promised to be a good day. A light breeze stroked her skin, making her white night gown flutter softly in the wind.

John’s strong arms hugged her from behind, his lips trailing kisses down her neck and shoulder. A sigh of contentment slipped from her mouth and she smiled brilliantly, as she turned around and gave him a good morning kiss.

“Is Aras already up?”

He nodded.

“Yes. Up and away to his lessons.” He grinned and at that moment he was the epitome of a proud father. Her smile softened. She could remember very well how Aras had come to them and although those days in the damp and smelly prison on that god-forsaken planet were some of the worst she had lived through in the Pegasus galaxy, they had also given them Aras. And that, she decided, was definitely worth the horrible ordeal.

“He’s just like you.”

“You mean like you. The boy is the born diplomat! He can get everyone to do what he wants!” And she knew exactly what he meant. Their little boy had a fearsome arsenal of cute looks and he wasn’t afraid to use them, especially on Rodney, who strangely enough, though he didn’t like kids, was Aras’ most favourite uncle and had bonded with him quickly.

“So today is the grand tour. Are Ronon and Teyla going to come with us, when we show them the city?”

“No.” She answered. “Ronon is going back to New Valion to look over the labs and Teyla is leading AR-3 on a trade mission to the Krillim. A representative of theirs met with AR-6 on Laritiani the last time we were there and wanted to establish a trade agreement. They’re interested in our medicines and coffee and are apparently technologically advanced, so there should be something that may be useful to us.”

“What about Rodney?” John slipped his trousers on and then tried to comb his hair.

“Working on our new power source with Kaitin and Radek. They told me that they were close and you know how he is during such times.”

“So it’s just us?”

She nodded and headed to the bathroom, stopping in the door and glancing back.

“Yes. The pleasure to be tour guides falls exclusively to us.”

He grimaced at that.

“Oh, come on, John, it won’t be so bad. They’re OK, a nice bunch, really and we’ll have the whole morning together.”

“Yeah, well. That’s really the only good point of this thing.”

“Be nice John.” She admonished him and disappeared into the bathroom to take a shower. Elizabeth understood John’s reluctance to be near SG-1 well. For the first time in five years he was near people who outranked him and he wasn’t sure how to behave. On the one hand, they were his superior officers but on the other, they had been cut off from everything that was Earth for years. Could Earth regulations and traditions still matter so much? It was a question that was hard to answer and she was sure that it plagued not only John. Many things would change now that they had re-established contact and she hoped that they would change for the better and not the worse.
__________________________________________________________

After breakfast the group consisting of SG-1 and the two leaders of Atlantis were ready and anxious to begin the tour. Daniel, especially, was more than curious. When the Expedition had first gone to the lost city, he had pleaded with Jack to go with them. But no amount of begging had done any good. His friend had not let him go. Perhaps it was for the better. Had he gone, he would have been stuck in this galaxy for the past five years and though the secrets this city held were fascinating, no doubt, he wasn’t ready to let go of the family he had found in SG-1.

“So, Dr. Weir, where to first?” His excitement must have shown through, because she smiled slightly and then glanced at her fellow Lantean.

“Well, we though that we’d first show you around the central spire and then go outwards. Maybe we’ll do a trip to the mainland.” Sheppard answered and looked questioningly at Weir.

She nodded to the unasked inquiry.

“That should be no problem. The jumper is scheduled to make a run to the mainland this afternoon. We’ll be done with the city tour by then and we have to make it back from the mainland by 1800.”

“May I ask why?” Daniel interrupted.

Her grin got bigger and she almost glowed with happiness, surprising the members of SG-1. For the last day all of the Atlantis personnel had seemed overly serious and Daniel couldn’t fault them for that. Living in a galaxy with life-sucking aliens wasn’t something comfortable or that induced happiness. This was the first time that he had seen her so carefree.

“Today we celebrate the joining of Dr. Peter Grodin and Irrilun Terigan.”

“Joining, like marriage?” Jack seemed surprised, though he really shouldn’t be. These people were in a different galaxy, cut off from Earth. Of course they would slowly settle down. He knew better than anyone how life-threatening situations and the galaxy as such could show one the truly important things.

“Yes, General. Many of our people are married, some of them to those native to this galaxy. Some even have children.” She looked amused. “You can’t truly expect the people here not to have lives. We didn’t expect to ever cross paths with the people of Earth again, so we settled down.” Shrugging, she continued walking.

“Oh no! All of you are entitled to your lives. But you must understand that there will be problems. I, personally, don’t care who you marry but there will be people who do, especially in regards to you two.” Both leaders of Atlantis exchanged knowing looks, before turning to Jack.

“So you heard?” Sheppard asked cautiously.

“Well, your discrete display yesterday evening sure didn’t give anything away.” Jack replied dryly. Then he smirked. “How did you manage to have her agree to marry you, Sheppard?”

The major’s eyes unfocused and the growing smile on his face went wistful. Everyone could see that he was well and utterly whipped.

“I still don’t know, but she must have found something she liked in me or she wouldn’t have said yes.”

“And what about the little boy, Aras? He is clearly older than five years and as far as I know you weren’t pregnant then.”

“No, I was not, Colonel Carter. We found Aras when we liberated a camp of some Wraith worshippers.” Dr. Weir noticed their clueless expressions and explained further. “The Wraith worshippers are a group of humans, who worship the Wraith. They see them as life givers and frequently capture innocent people to experiment on them and make them into a more life-giving food source. I was captured three-and-a-half years ago while trying to establish a trade agreement with some of our partners. They were raided in the middle of the night and I was locked up with little Aras. From what I understand his birth parents were killed in the experiments and Aras was next on their list. He has some strange genetic anomalies that make him more resistant to Wraith feedings and, apparently, the worshippers wanted to find out why.”

“We managed to find her in two weeks and we took Aras with us.” The major’s face was grim as he obviously remembered the time they had found them. It had not been pretty. Dr. Weir’s hand softly stroked his arm and he visible relaxed, giving her a thankful smile. “We kind of adopted him and he has been with us ever since.”

They stopped walking suddenly and Dr. Weir knocked carefully at the door.

“WHAT?!” An irritated cry came from inside and Weir seemed to stifle the giggle that seemed to unconsciously escape her.

“He sure sounds better than the last time we interrupted him in his lab.” The major remarked sarcastically and swished the door open.

The room they entered was huge and they could see a series of other doors leading to what they presumed were the other labs. Laptops, various machinery and boards with equations were scattered all over the place. In the middle of it all sat one Dr. Rodney McKay, surrounded by empty coffee cups and machine parts. He was tinkering in one that looked remarkably like an Easter egg but didn’t look up at the intrusion.

“These are some of the labs. We have more in various parts of the city but the most sensitive research is done in the central tower.” Weir gestured around, sparing a glance at the oblivious Dr. McKay and leading the group out of the room. “This whole level and some others below it are only labs. We have the physics and genetics department here as well as the anthropology, linguistics and archaeology departments.”

“What are you working on?”

“The research is mostly focused on better ways to defeat the Wraith, Dr. Jackson. After the first year in Pegasus we had a shortage of practically everything. Clothes, food, medicines, weapons and of course bullets. Not having anticipated living in the middle of a war-torn galaxy, we had not packed as much ammunition as we needed.” She grimaced and Jack grimaced with her. He knew what having good equipment meant in a dangerous place and could only imagine too well, what the Expedition went through.

“We scavenged weapons from the Wraith or the Wraith worshippers for a time.” Sheppard continued. “But that was not truly efficient. Wraith weaponry is designed to stun and not kill their prey, so they can later eat them. We, on the other hand, wanted to kill them for good. It took some time for Rodney and Radek to develop efficient energy weapons that could take them on.”

They continued walking through the corridors, sometimes greeting people, who hurried from one place to the other. Some were almost too busy to notice them. A lot were people who hadn’t been with the original Expedition and were probably locals. When Sam remarked on that, she garnered a nod from Weir.

“Yes. That is true. Since we arrived in Pegasus we met a lot of new allies. The Athosians were the first. They were a simple agrarian society, who had technology but couldn’t really evolve due to the frequent Wraith cullings on their planet. We arrived on Athos during one such culling and evacuated them to Atlantis. They settled on the mainland and here. Many are valued guides, as they know this galaxy very well due to being traders and merchants. A lot of our alliances and trade agreements are their accomplishment. Some of them took interest in the sciences and we agreed to teach them our ways. They are a deeply spiritual people but do not shy away from new things. Many of our scientists took apprentices and now we have more people working in the departments, particularly in archaeology and anthropology.”

The explanation continued as they entered a transporter and were teleported away.

“But some of them still prefer the simple life and are in a settlement on the mainland. Others are part of the AR teams or the biology department, which is where we are going.” They exited the transporter room and began walking again. “We are now at the Northern pier. After escaping the Wraith in our first year, we concentrated almost exclusively on exploring the city. Our food stores were slowly being depleted and it was only the grace of the Athosians that saved us from starving to death. It was really a miracle that we found these.” She opened a door and led them through, smiling proudly at the gasps behind her.

In front of them was a gigantic room, surely at least as large as a football stadium. The air was warm and sunshine shone from the gigantic glass ceiling overhead. Four meter high trees stood in rows, many of them with small red beans hanging from the branches. In the distance one could see other trees with different fruits.

“This is amazing.” Daniel gasped, before looking closer at the fruits on the trees. “Are these Theobroma cacao and Coffea arabica?“ Weir smiled and nodded, clearly amused when the archaeologist’s eyes went wide and a silly grin plastered all over his face.

“Daniel? Daniel!” Jack moved a hand in front of his eyes, trying to catch his attention but failing miserably. He then turned to the two Lanteans and crossed his arms. “Would someone please tell me how you broke my archaeologist?”

Sheppard coughed, trying to hide his smile.

“The second year in Pegasus we found these greenhouses. They were completely empty but thankfully Doctor Alan Richter of the Biology department brought some samples of these with him to Pegasus. We tried to cultivate them and we succeeded and thus had a unique trading good. These, general, are coffee and cacao trees.”

It took only seconds before the truth dawned and Jack’s eyes went almost as wide as Daniel’s as he looked at the green trees, before he suddenly burst into laughter.

“You mean to tell me,” he said between gasps of air, “that you have your own coffee and chocolate production going on here?” The whole thing overwhelmed him again and he broke down laughing. The rest of his team was in similar degrees of astonishment, while the two Lanteans looked indulgingly on.

Sheppard’s lips quirked and he commented wryly. “Over half of the citizens in this city are scientists. You haven’t seen Rodney yet if he is in caffeine withdrawal. It isn’t pretty, I tell you. So this was a matter of survival and the chocolate,” he glanced at Elizabeth, “was almost as important. You will be proud to hear that Atlantis is, amongst other things, the supplier of chocolate and coffee for the whole Pegasus galaxy. We practically have a monopoly on them and are widely popular because of it.”

The general flopped himself down near a coffee tree and continued laughing.

“Wait till I tell the IOA that you rule this galaxy through coffee and chocolate!”
__________________________________________________________

After General O’Neill stopped laughing – and it took a while – John and Elizabeth showed them the other greenhouses. Beside the coffee and chocolate, which grew in the first enormous greenhouse, the other greenhouses that were of similar size were housing various fruits and vegetables, not to mention herbs, which were an important part of some much needed medicines. It was all very impressive and Elizabeth knew that had they not discovered this part of Atlantis when they had, they wouldn’t be alive. John hadn’t been joking when he told SG-1 that the coffee and chocolate made the Lanteans very popular in Pegasus. Trade routes which would have been closed otherwise were open due to their unique goods. Some situations that would have turned dangerous were prevented with a few good chosen threats. Yes, Elizabeth decided, having a monopoly on the two most addictive goods in the universe was indeed very good.

Their tour had continued to what most on Atlantis called the Training Camp on the east pier, where a lot of Satedans had made their home. While the first group of Satedans they had met after Ronon were Wraith worshippers, these Satedans were thankfully not. They had escaped the destruction of their planet and had dedicated themselves to the city of Atlantis. Quite similar to the Jaffa of the Milky Way, these warriors were utterly loyal and a force to be reckoned with.

Teal’c had especially been impressed by their training and tactics.

“You have worthy warriors here, Doctor Weir.” He had stated calmly and bowed his head to Arkion, the other leader of the Satedans beside Ronon. Arkion was in his mid-fifties with salt and pepper hair but a strong constitution despite his age. Having been an instructor in their war college, he had brought with him a wealth of training methods and strategies to battle against the Wraith.

“And we are happy to be in the city of Atlantis.” Arkion acknowledged, smiling softly.

“Why have you decided to become part of Atlantis, Arkion?” Teal’c asked with interest. It was clear for anybody to see that he had found a kindred soul in his fellow warrior.

“Our planet, Sateda, is in ruins. Nobody has survived the final culling. The Lantean people not only saved my regiment from capture by Wraith worshippers, but they also were prepared to offer us a home. We will proudly fight for New Lantea and our traditions and believes will survive with us.” Arkion’s conviction was full of determination and pride. This loyalty was in large part the success of Ronon. Had he not stood behind John and her, the remaining Satedans would not have taken to them so quickly.

It was with a lighter heart that she continued the tour of Atlantis.

“So what else do you have here?” Daniel asked.

“Let’s see…We already showed you the greenhouses, the labs and the Training Camp. Many of our living quarters are on the fifth pylon. Only those who are crucial to the functioning of Atlantis or need to be close to Operations live in the Central Tower. A lot of our people prefer the Fifth Pylon, as there are bigger quarters and the school there.”

General O’Neill perked up at that.

“The school?”

Elizabeth nodded.

“Yes. We have a school. Aras is not the only child in Atlantis. Many of the Athosians and some Satedans have children. They range from babies to adolescents. During the last few years we established a good schooling system. There is a kind of kindergarten for the younger ones, where they can play and learn basic things like what to do in case of an emergency or if confronted with a Wraith.”

“Confronted with a Wraith?” The Colonel’s concerned voice interrupted. “Is that very likely? And do they need to learn that so early?”

Elizabeth’s grim face was answer enough. This was not the Milky Way or Earth. The people in Pegasus were well aware of the dangers that lurked in the shadows. Many of their relatives or even parents had suffered and wasted away due to the Wraith.

“Unfortunately, yes. Although Atlantis is the most secure place in this galaxy due to nobody knowing where it is, there is still a chance that we will be discovered by the Wraith or they will face one in another place. It’s better to prepare them now than have them unprepared and dead later on. Our children learn from an early age to fight. A lot of them have lost their family to the Wraith and know what danger they pose, so we prepare them as best we can, while still allowing them to be children. First they learn fighting with banto sticks, then we move on to Satedan martial arts and when they are old enough we train them in weapons use.” Her reply was made in a matter-of-fact tone but nobody could dismiss the sadness underlying it.

“You changed a lot in the last few years.” Stated Jack. Due to her being his predecessor in the SGC, he knew her better than the other members of his team did. Five years ago Elizabeth Weir had been an idealist, a diplomat who believed wholeheartedly in the notion that everything could be solved with words instead of weapons. It saddened him that this was no longer the case. Somehow, Elizabeth had lost that idealistic innocence. Just like Daniel and Sam had after so many years of war with the Goa’uld.

“Change is inevitable.” Elizabeth felt as saddened by that as Jack looked. “And it was the only possible way to survive in this galaxy. Don’t get me wrong, I still believe that diplomacy is the best method but I no longer hesitate when confronted with a problem only solved by weapons use. I don’t regret coming here. Atlantis is more than I ever hoped, more than I ever imagined.”

“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” Jack quoted, garnering astonished looks from all present. “What?! It’s a classic!”

“More things in this universe is perhaps slightly more apt, General.” Elizabeth commented wryly. “But yes. This place is something out of a fairytale. Ah! Here we are!” She walked out of the transporter they had used and turned right. “We are now in the Fifth Pylon, on the school level to be exact. Most of our scientists give classes on various subjects. It’s a good system. They are, after all, the best of the best and many can explain really well, so the children get the best education. If I remember correctly then the young children should be having a physics class right now.” A door swished open in front of her and they entered in the back of a medium sized room. There were big tables and comfortable looking chairs on the sides, while a very big table was in the front. About fifteen children sat around it, all ranging from five to nine years, looking curiously at the presentation an Asian woman explained. The woman quickly saw them and her eyes went wide. Clearly she had not been prepared to have guests.

“Weir-san! Sheppard-san!” She bowed low and smiled uncertainly. “What can I do for you?”

The children, now too having seen them, rushed to their feet and were all but running in their direction, when a loud cough from the Asian woman interrupted them. Sheepishly glancing at each other they bowed to the adults, intoning a respectful `Doctor Weir` and `Major Sheppard` before continuing their running. It was only seconds later that the two Lantean leaders were being hugged to death by little children, all babbling about something or other and the younger ones holding their hands up to be picked up by the adults.

SG-1, who had been ignored, were looking at the spectacle with growing amusement. It was obvious that the children adored the two and it also helped to lay their fears of the children being too young to learn fighting to rest. If they could behave like that, then whatever the Lanteans were doing was apparently not detrimental to them.

A soft tug on Teal’c’s trousers made him look down. Gazing at him with curiosity was one of the cutest little girls he had ever seen. Red locks and brilliant blue eyes assessed him before she asked seriously.

“Who are you?”

“I am Teal’c.” The Jaffa answered in his deep, booming voice. Although frightening for many, the little girl didn’t seem afraid.

“Are you a friend of Major John and Doctor Elizabeth?”

“Indeed, I am.”

She nodded, seemingly satisfied, then trustingly held up her hands to be picked up. With a glance to his teammates, who seemed to find his predicament highly entertaining, he complied with her request, and settled her on one of his arms. Her serious gaze was now level to his and she mustered him further until she suddenly exclaimed.

“I like you.”

And that was that. The other children who had seen him pick up the girl, Aria, were quickly taken with Teal’c. For the rest of the hour they remained with the kids, all of them had sat on Teal’c’s shoulders at least once and they had hugged each and every one of them goodbye before they left.

It was a happy and content group, who continued their tour to the manufacturing facilities on Pylon Three.

“Of course, we can’t produce everything. Atlantis had never been completely self-sufficient, not even in the time of the Alterans.” John started speaking as he gestured at the machinery behind him. “We did not have the ability to construct many mechanical mills through which we can make hard, durable chocolate, so we mostly export it as a liquid. To find a suitable way of fermentation was also not easy, but we somehow managed it. Most of our manufacturing facilities are used to make our weapons or other necessary components that are needed for the running of Atlantis.”

“But from what do you make the weapons?” Carter asked. “It’s not like you have an endless supply of raw materials.”

The major nodded.

“That’s unfortunately true.” He motioned them to follow him and led them into another hall with machines that looked vaguely like huge teardrops. “But we found these. It took a while but we figured out what these are. What you’re looking at is something like mining drones. You program them to mine whatever you want and drop them off. You harvest them and get the materials you need. Thankfully, we found some ships that are a bit bigger than the puddle jumpers that are capable of doing this. In a neighbouring system of New Lantea are asteroids full of Naquada and Trinium. We do the mining runs every three months, so we have enough to tide us over. Unfortunately, it’s not enough to build something big like a warship. We don’t have the power for that.”

His voice was wistful like only a pilot’s could be. Elizabeth looked at her watch.

“We have to go, if we want to catch the puddle jumper.”

“Puddle jumper?”

“John’s named it.” She shrugged. “It’s the ships that can go through the gate.”

“Ah.”

Their flight in the puddle jumper was only twenty minutes long. The mainland, a huge continent that seemed to go on forever was a tropical paradise that reminded those who saw it of South America. On the coast some buildings were clearly seen. A little harbour with small ships was visible. People were mingling underneath them, some going about their business in the little town or working on the fields just outside of it. They landed on an empty square in the middle of the village and were quickly surrounded by its inhabitants. Ignoring the newcomers of SG-1, the townspeople quickly began unloading the crates that had been stacked in the jumper and loading it with other crates.

“We supply them with coffee or other goods that we cultivate or get from off-world and they in turn give us fresh fish, bread, meat and other things that are made on the mainland.” Elizabeth explained as they wandered around town, occasionally greeting whoever crossed their paths. The village itself was similar to what they had found on the old Lantea. Many houses were simple dwellings, though a few looked sturdier and more technologically advanced. “We also have a few scientists here, from the biology department. They research the local plant life and animals. Thanks to them we already found some fruits and vegetables that are a good supplement to our diet. There are also houses for the hunting parties that Ronon and a few other people organize every few weeks. Some bear-like animals live up north in the mountains and a few other species that resemble some of Earth’s animals are also around here.”

“And let’s not forget the hot springs.” John added with a smirk that only grew, when Elizabeth blushed bright red. She remembered those sinful, happy days very well. After living through various life-threatening crises, the burdens of leaderships weighting her down, those few days simply relaxing, being with John and not having anything better to do than lie in the sun, bath in the hot springs or simply enjoy her Major’s company was heaven.

“You’ve got hot springs here?” Jack asked, incredulous.

“Further south, down the coast. We accidentally discovered them on one of our explorations. Now we use it as a kind of resort. There are a few houses there, good defences, and our geologists are ecstatic because the water has some kind of healing properties.”

“We had our honeymoon there.” John’s comment gained him a glare from Elizabeth but he only smiled at her and continued. “It was a very relaxing two weeks.”

“You hear that, Carter?” The General suddenly turned towards his former Second. “Hot springs, a tropical climate and fishing; maybe I should retire here.”

“Gamma Site is nice enough, sir.” She threatened him right back. Both of them knew that he was only joking. There was no way that he would let anyone separate them after a decade of not being able to consummate their relationship.

He only nodded his head in acquiescence and smiled.
__________________________________________________________

That night the joining of one Dr. Peter Grodin and Irrilun Terigan was proceeding at one of the highest balconies of the central tower. Many people had come to celebrate with the pair, as they were well liked amongst the Lanteans. It was perhaps a strange match, one that could only ever be made in Pegasus.

Dr. Peter Grodin was a quiet but determined young man. His steady presence and control was a blessing in the chaos that Operations could sometimes be. A few of the Expedition that had served in the SGC prior to coming to Pegasus would always compare him to one Chief Sergeant Walter Harriman, who had seemed as much an integral part to the SGC’s working as Grodin was to Atlantis’.

Irrilun Terigan on the other hand was anything but shy or quiet. The young Satedan woman had been a soldier all of her life. With her long blond locks and fiery brown eyes Irrilun’s beauty was only matched by her impressive fighting skills. Although a woman, she could fight equally with Ronon and her other male colleagues.

Both vowed their souls to each other and were symbolically bound by a red silken cloth. Their best friends presented them with their marriage bracelets, which were artistically made with golden and red colours intermingling. Signing the marriage certificate made by Elizabeth and John, everyone clapped loudly. Happiness rushed over the population of Atlantis, celebrating two of their own. It was not a simple thing, finding love in a dangerous and war-torn galaxy and every one of them knew it.

People were talking and laughing. The strong Athosian wine and Lantean ale was flowing freely.

Elizabeth looked on in satisfaction and pride as the new couple went out to greet their guests. It was good to see that even in war people still found the time to be happy and to love. Her gaze wandered to SG-1. Dr. Jackson was sipping his Athosian wine and talking animatedly with one of the archaeologists, while Teal’c was in a deep conversation with Ronon. Colonel Carter and General O’Neill were dancing to the soft tunes of the music that had begun playing just after the end of the ceremony and they looked very much in love.

“So the rumours are true.” John stated from beside her and gave her a glass of Athosian wine.

“Seems like it. I can’t begrudge them their happiness. They deserve it after nearly a decade of not being allowed to act on their feelings.”

“At least we didn’t wait so long.”

“It’s one of the good things that is a consequence of being in no contact with Earth. I don’t want to imagine what would have happened had we managed to establish a connection just prior to the first Wraith attack on the city. The IOA would have made our lives a living hell.”

“They still could do it.” John said and his voice sounded a bit concerned. “But it’s good we’re already married and we probably have some good back-up with them.” He nodded at SG-1. “At least I think we do. It went well today, didn’t it?”

“Yes. I think they were impressed with what we have accomplished here. And I think that we have gained some good allies today. We are going to need them, when we confront all the politicians on Earth.”

“But that is for another day.” His dark eyes twinkled at her. “Dance with me, ‘Lizabeth.”

Her hand fit into his perfectly as he led her to a more deserted part of the balcony. The main party was further down, so they wouldn’t be interrupted.

Pressing her body tightly against his, he smiled down at her. Green eyes stared back at him, full of love and contentment. They danced silently to the music drifting up from the celebration, their steps light and floating.

“You’re beautiful.” He whispered reverently, a thumb stroking her pale cheek. Her skin tingled and her breath caught, her head moving slowly to the side so she could kiss his wrist.

They swayed slightly to the music, now no longer focused on any sounds but on each other. Her fingers stroked rhythmically through his hair, playing with a few strands before wandering further downwards. Hard muscles under emerald green silk tensed under her ministrations, his breathing deepening and ghosting over her skin, as he nuzzled her neck.

A shiver raced down her spine and a short gasp escaped her. The party was forgotten. All of their problems no longer mattered. It was the magic of Atlantis that captured them in the pale moonlight and made their pain, their sorrows and their fears evaporate for the night.

Elizabeth moaned softly as he kissed his way down her throat, then capturing her eyes with his.

“Dance with me, ‘Lizabeth.” He repeated the words from before but now they were as much a demand as they were a plea for a different sort of dance.

“Forever and always.” She confirmed and her pearling laughter floated through the air, as he led her away to a more private and intimate place, his eyes burning with the passion he only held for her.
__________________________________________________________

The party had continued long into the morning hours, only ebbing away at 0500 Atlantis Standard Time (AST), when even the last remaining people were either too tired or too drunk to party on. So it was no surprise that the people who could allow themselves to sleep in did so.

Even though he himself had neither a hangover nor partied too much, Jack still relished the fact that he could lie in the very comfortable bed in the previously lost city of Atlantis and hold the very naked body of the woman he had loved and lusted over for years. With a content smile he buried his nose deeper in her golden hair – and he refused to call it snuggling! – and stroked softly over her exposed hip.

The first meeting between the Atlantis Expedition and SG-1 had gone exceedingly well. And he was glad for that. So many things could have gone wrong. The soldier in him rejoiced at having found not only remnants of his people but actually more than half of the original Expedition alive and thriving despite the difficult circumstances. In many ways it was a miracle that they did so good. Coffee and chocolate, indeed! Jack grinned at the thought, the mirth of yesterday overcoming him again. It was an ingenious idea but it apparently worked. The things they had managed to do! Production facilities, schools, greenhouses…Atlantis was a true settlement, a community of tightly knit people.

Sam sighed in her sleep and for a moment he thought that she would wake but she settled again, sliding deeper into the realm of sleep.

Today the talks would continue. There were things to do. He knew that the Atlantis leadership was still a bit hesitant in trusting them. Jack didn’t begrudge them that, though he knew that trust would come with time. Earth would need to be contacted soon. Dealing with the IOA, explaining things to the president…He sighed, deciding that he could sleep a bit more. The IOA was a pain in the ass at the best of times, at the worst…

Closing his eyes, he let sleep claim him once again, happy that for some time all was well.
__________________________________________________________

The sun stood high in the sky, when they reconvened in the conference room. Beside SG-1 only Elizabeth, Rodney and John were present. Sunlight streamed through the windows and coffee and what looked like chocolate cake were sitting on a small table to the side.

“Sweet!” Jack exclaimed, his grin wide as he saw the treat, quickly grabbing a plate and cutting off a generous piece of cake. Daniel, on the other hand groggily moved to the coffee, filling a cup and sighing contently when he took a sip. It was pretty clear for everyone that he was neither really awake nor without a hangover but it looked like the coffee was slowly siphoning life into him.

“We thought that you would like to taste our special products for yourself.” Smiled Elizabeth, obviously pleased at their reaction.

After everyone was seated either with coffee or cake – sometimes with both – the meeting began.

“You understand that we will have to make contact with Earth soon, Dr. Weir.”

“Elizabeth, please.” She offered. “And yes, I already thought about it. But you must know that we do not have enough power to dial into the Milky Way. We tried to do so just before the first Wraith attack but we couldn’t reach you.”

“Was this approximately four years ago?” interrupted Sam and paused when Elizabeth nodded in affirmation. A glance to the right told her that her teammates thought the same.

“Four years ago we had a bit of a situation. One of our SG teams ran into a machinery similar to the one we found on P4X-639.”

“The time-loop device?” Rodney asked, understanding dawning in his eyes.

“That’s right, McKay. In his infinite wisdom one of the team decided that he wanted to touch a button and voila: Earth is cut off from the rest of the universe!” The sarcasm just flowed out of Daniel. The dislike and frustration on his face were so strong, that the Atlantis personnel were taken aback.

“You have to excuse him.” Sam smiled apologetically. “The person who did that is not really on good terms with Daniel. He reacts a bit…negatively, when the topic comes up.”

Rodney snorted.

“Yeah, I can see that.”

“So that’s the reason why you couldn’t dial in. We were out of space-time. By our estimations we had been gone for about two weeks.”

“The two weeks in which we tried to contact you. That seems plausible. Still, we do not have the power to dial Earth, so…” Elizabeth trailed off, waiting for their answer. It was a reasonable estimation that they had something that would make it possible.

And, indeed, Jack grinned smugly.

“We brought with us a ZPM.”

Unbelieving eyes stared at him. For so long had they tried to find a ZPM. Nothing had come of it. In five years they had not seen anything that would give them the power to finally place a call to Earth. They had hoped but that hope had been slowly eradicated. Even though SG-1 was here, they had not truly realized that seeing Earth again was an option. What would they do? The life on Earth seemed such a long time ago. It had been a different existence, Elizabeth thought, a different lifetime. She was not the same as before. What would her mother think? Her daughter, the quintessential diplomat, was now a mixture between soldier and leader, no longer believing in the supreme power of the spoken word.

A glance at John told her that he had the same questions, the same fears. He had left behind a brother and a father, though he had not been in contact with them for a long time. John had only said goodbye to one of his cousins. He, too, would now see her again.

What do you say to a person that had seemed lost to you? Could they accept you as you are now or will they grieve for someone you were five years ago? Elizabeth didn’t know if she wanted these questions answered.

“There’ll be a debriefing, of course, and we still have to revive all of you. After the third year you were all presumed K.I.A., so there’s going to be a lot of paperwork before all of you can see family members or walk around on Earth.” Jack continued, unaware or deciding not to mention the tension that had swept over the three Lanteans.

“Then it would be best if the three of us and some others who have family on Earth would come back with you to debrief the IOA. I’m sure they will have a lot of questions.” She grimaced and shared a look with the General.

“Well, I can assure you that I’ll support you one-hundred percent.” The statement was delivered in a calm, serious tone, which Jack only used sparingly.

“Thank you.” In that moment an understanding was reached. It was only a single glance. One that only leaders truly ever understood. He had seen her devotion to Atlantis, to her people and he respected that. Jack knew good leaders when he saw them and Elizabeth Weir, her eyes unafraid, determined and strong was someone whose spirit could enflame others, giving them an example to strive for. Sheppard, though he never would have been his first choice for the position, was a commander his soldiers idolized and loved. Both of them were clearly a team and he would have been a fool to try to stand against something like this. Too much time with SG-1 and Carter saw to that.

They knew now where they stood and when the time came they would stand together.


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