New Story - Toss Of A Coin
Here's Part Two.
John groaned as the insistent sound of the doorbell broke through his relaxed sleep. He cracked open one eye to find Jeannie snuggled up beside him waking up as well.
“Get the door,” she murmured, “It’s your house.”
John chuckled before retaliating, “He’s your brother.”
“Rat,” Jeannie muttered, she gave him a quick kiss before sliding out of bed and dressing quickly, “I’ll get you back for this.”
John chuckled as she disappeared; he heard Rodney’s distinctive voice float up.
“Finally, I thought you’d moved out or something.”
“It’s barely eight thirty, Mer,” Jeannie replied with a laugh, “Some of us actually like to sleep in on our days off.”
“Happy Birthday,” Rodney quickly changed the subject.
John stretched as the voices faded, probably into the kitchen for food if he knew Rodney which he did. The only thing he was annoyed about was he’d come so early, if he’d had the chance he would have given Jeannie a quick birthday present before her brother showed up.
John jumped into the shower, as he washed he remembered where he’d left her actual present. John was about to head downstairs when his cell phone started to ring. Barely glancing at who was calling he hit the button.
“Hello?”
“John?” the familiar voice said.
He froze, why the hell was Rodney calling him from downstairs.
“Colonel,” Rodney’s voice came again, “Are you there?”
“Rodney?” he choked out, “Is this a joke? Why are you calling me from the kitchen?”
“Listen very carefully to me,” Rodney said, “You are Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard of the Atlantis Expedition. The life you’re experiencing is not yours.”
John dropped to sit on the bed, “Rodney, tell me this is some kind of joke. Tell me this is you in the kitchen having a laugh.”
“Colonel, I need you to listen carefully,” Rodney told him, “You’ve switched places with yourself in an alternate universe, his memories are taking over yours so that Atlantis will seem like a dream. It’s not. We’re here and we’re trying to bring you home but you need to help us.”
“How?” John asked quietly trying to process the information.
“You’ll need the Stargate and the version of me in that universe,” Rodney told him.
“That’s not going to be easy,” John said, “I’m not connected to the Stargate programme here.”
He heard Rodney let out a huff of annoyance, “Find a way,” Rodney snapped, “We don’t have much time, John. I’ll call again tonight.”
“Rodn...” John sighed as the call cut off, “Crap.”
“Morning,” Jeannie greeted him as he entered the kitchen, she gave him a quick kiss, “There’s coffee in the pot.”
“Thanks,” John smiled at her, wondering if the other John knew how lucky he was, “Hey, Rodney.”
Suspicion filled Rodney’s eyes, “What’s with you?”
John turned to Jeannie in confusion, “What?”
“You’ve never called him Rodney before,” she explained before turning to her brother, “Be nice, he’s still a little confused after his accident.”
Rodney let out a snort but remained silent as drank his coffee.
“I’m going to have a shower,” Jeannie told them, “Behave.”
John watched Jeannie leave the kitchen; he waited until he was sure she was out of hearing range before he turned back to Rodney.
“Okay, I need your help, Rodney,” John said, finding the other man looking at him confused, “I don’t have time just now to go into details so a yes or no from you is all I need.”
“For what?” Rodney stared at him suspiciously.
“You work at Area 51 for the Stargate programme,” John stated, “Right?”
Rodney stared at him dumb-founded, “How...What...”
“I’ll take that as a yes,” John cut off his stammer, “Okay, I’m Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard; I’m the head of Atlantis’ Military contingent.”
“Atlantis?”
John grimaced at Rodney, “I need your help. For me to get back to my own Universe and the other me to get back here we need the Stargate.”
“Why?”
“Because the other you in my universe is going to use some Ancient device to switch us back,” John replied before hesitating, “I guess.”
“Is this some crazy way to try and dump my sister?” Rodney demanded sharply.
John sighed, “I...I’m crazy about Jeannie and I want to stay with her but I know I don’t belong here.”
Rodney continued to stare at him for several minutes; John could practically see the wheels in his head turning and waited until Rodney turned and nodded.
“What do you want me to say?” Rodney demanded, “My brother in law is really from an alternate universe?”
“It’s a start,” John shrugged, making the other man frown, “I don’t know, Rodney I’ve never had to do this before. Say you know of a possible security leak, that usually sends them into insanity.”
“Let me make a call,” he said, “But if this is some kind of trick...”
John shook his head; it was going to be a long day.
John watched Rodney as he talked to General Landry, personally John would have went straight to O’Neill but Rodney was the one doing the talking just now. John knew that they’d have to go straight to Cheyenne Mountain if Rodney managed to convince Landry that this was serious. If Rodney succeeded then he had to explain to Jeannie what was going on and this was the bit he wasn’t looking forward to.
What the hell could he say? Remember the guy who made love to you last night well he’s not really your husband but a doppelganger from an alternate world where you’re married to someone else.
John shook his head, not the way to go. She was a scientist, Jeannie would probably find this fascinating.
“Please find it fascinating,” John pleaded softly.
He turned as Rodney closed his phone and turned back to him, “Well?”
“Landry wants us at the base as soon as possible,” Rodney told him, “Any idea how to get there?”
“I’ll fly,” John replied quickly before licking his lips nervously, “Do you want...”
Rodney laughed harshly, “You’re telling her.”
John grimaced at Rodney, “Thanks for the support.”
As John slowly left the room and headed upstairs he knew Rodney was smirking behind his back.
John entered the bedroom to find Jeannie drying her hair in front of the full length mirror; she wore a simple denim skirt and green top. He stopped in the doorway and watched her feeling more and more annoyed at this whole situation. John did like his life in Atlantis, the conversation with his Rodney on the phone this morning had brought the memories to the front of his mind but he still had the other John’s memories. This included his romance with the woman sitting on the bed and the feelings that had grown quickly.
“Hey,” she smiled at him when she placed the hairdryer down, “Something wrong?”
John walked over to her and gently traced his finger along her cheek, “We have to go to Colorado, now.”
Jeannie stepped back and tilted her head to one side folding her arms across her chest, “Why?”
John decided to take a chance, “I need you to trust me, Jeannie. Just for a while until we get where we’re going.”
“John...”
He reached out and pulled her into his arms, “I promise I will tell you everything once we get there but for now,” he paused, “I really need you to trust me.”
Jeannie let out a long sigh before she nodded, “Fine.”
John didn’t say another word; he wrapped his arms around her knowing he was going to lose this very soon.
*********************************************
The SGC looked almost exactly the same as it did in his own Universe; John gripped Jeannie’s hand as they walked with Rodney and their escort towards the conference room. She’d been silent on the journey here, John was thankful he had to concentrate on his flying so didn’t have to dodge questions. Rodney had kept his head down and avoided speaking to her by concentrating on his computer. John wasn’t looking forward to telling everything to Landry but the fact he’d be telling Jeannie at the same time worried him.
“Mr Sheppard,” Landry greeted coolly as they walked into the briefing room, “You’ve caused a great deal of trouble in a short time.”
“You’ve no idea,” John laughed slightly before he automatically added, “Sir.”
Landry motioned the three of them to sit, “Dr McKay has told me you are a security risk,” he said as he took his own seat, “I want to know why.”
John gently squeezed Jeannie’s hand as she looked darkly at him; he turned his attention to Landry again.
“I’m Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard of the Atlantis Expedition,” John said, watching the disbelief in the older man’s eyes, “A few days ago I somehow swapped places with my counterpart in this Universe. At first I was completely confused but soon the memories of the John Sheppard from here asserted themselves.”
“What do you mean?” Landry asked, he seemed interested although still quite sceptical.
John could feel Jeannie’s eyes on him but didn’t turn to see the angry look he knew she was giving him, “I remembered his life with Jeannie, and I began to believe that my world was just a hallucination. Then I got a phone call from Rodney.”
“What?” Rodney snapped as Landry looked at him.
“Not him,” John clarified, “The Rodney from my world somehow managed to break through and explained to me. This is why I’m here because to switch us back we need the Stargate.”
Silence filled the room and John finally looked at Jeannie, her blue eyes were icy and he sighed.
“Mr Sheppard,” Landry said, “Mrs Sheppard...”
“Dr Sheppard,” Jeannie cut him off sharply.
“My apologies,” Landry continued, “I need to speak to Dr McKay for a few minutes. Wait here and we’ll continue this discussion in a few minutes.”
He motioned Rodney into his office leaving John and Jeannie alone with the exception of the two guards standing unobtrusively in the corner.
“So you’re not my husband,” Jeannie finally spoke, pulling away when he reached out for her hand, “Don’t.”
“Jeannie, I had no idea until this morning,” he told her, “I thought...I believed...” he stopped, “I can’t explain any of this Jeannie but I’m asking for you to just trust me a little longer and he’ll be back with you.”
“This is insane,” she snapped, “This is just insane.”
John shrugged “Actually, it’s pretty much a normal day at the office.”
As she frowned at him John gave her a hopeful little smile, she shook her head with a smile almost on her lips, “Fine. I can’t believe I let you talk me into this.”
John leaned back in his seat unable to not grin at her, “It’s not the first time.”
Jeannie dropped back into her seat, “Not today, John. I’m not in the mood to be teased.”
He winced, checking through the window to where Landry and Rodney were still talking he turned to Jeannie and moved so he was looking into her eyes.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, gently touching her cheek, “I wish this wasn’t real, I wish I could just take you back out of here and go home but I’m not your husband. If we did leave now and forget everything I’d always feel I wasn’t in the right place.”
Jeannie sighed and rested her head against his; she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him.
John felt his phone vibrate in his pocket before the Batman theme started to play; he moved away from Jeannie and pulled it out. It showed an unknown number and John knew he could just press stop; he could just ignore it and take Jeannie home. A few months he was sure he could allow himself to forget all about Atlantis but the second passed, John couldn’t abandon the people who counted on him.
“Rodney?” he answered it as Jeannie moved to call her brother and Landry back in.
“Who else would it be?” Rodney answered caustically, “Tell me you’re in the SGC?”
John chuckled, “I am. I’m putting you on speaker-phone. Landry’s here with you...I mean...”
“I’m not stupid, Colonel,” Rodney said, he stopped and took a few deep breaths, “Does my alternate have his computer with him?”
“I do,” Mer said; John decided to think of him as Mer for the duration of the call, it was easier.
“I’m sending you information,” Rodney told him, “It will help you calibrate the Stargate for the transfer. I know some of it might seem bizarre but it’s mostly based on Ancient technology.”
John saw Mer’s eyes light up at what he was seeing appear in front of him. he motioned his sister over and the siblings stood watching in astonishment.
“We have eight hours and twenty three minutes before the connections between our Universes are severed,” Rodney spoke again after a few minutes, “I’ll call again in six hours so we can synchronise our switch.”
With that said, the phone cut off.
“General,” Mer turned to Landry, “I’ll start working on this.”
Jeannie tapped her brother’s shoulder making him turn back to her, “I’m coming to help. I want to know exactly what’s happening.”
He glanced at the General who nodded in agreement and the siblings left the room.
“So, Colonel,” Landry said, motioning him to take a seat again, “In your world the Atlantis expedition went ahead.”
John slid back into his own seat, “Yes, sir. Why didn’t they go to Atlantis here?”
Landry sighed, “General O’Neill was visiting the site but during the flight to the base...”
“A drone was fired accidentally,” John breathed when the other man trailed off sadly, “Who was flying?”
“Captain Fuller,” Landry told him, frowning as John groaned, “What?”
“Fuller had a hangover,” John stated sadly, “I, in my world, I told him to sleep it off and I flew the General,” he left out a soft snort, “It’s how I ended up involved in the insanity.”
“The powers that be decided that trying to send an expedition would be too much of a risk,” Landry explained, “Therefore once they’d learned everything they could from the outpost most of the team was split up and sent to other parts of the Stargate program.”
John chewed on his lip for a few moments, he drummed his fingers on the long table before making his decision, “I’ll give you as much information as I can about Atlantis and the Pegasus Galaxy since I’m pretty much sitting on my ass till Rodney and Jeannie finish. It might help you get the expedition kick-started.”
Landry nodded, “That would be helpful, Colonel.”
“One thing,” John stopped the older man as he headed back into his office, “If you do go, send McKay, Zelenka and Carson Beckett. They’ll be needed.”
*********************************************
John jumped as Jeannie touched his shoulder, he’d been engrossed in giving them as much information as he could about Atlantis and was surprised he didn’t hear her.
“Hey,” he stretched, wincing at the crack in his neck, “How you guys doing?”
Jeannie slid into the seat beside him, “We’re just waiting for the next call.”
John dropped the pen onto the pad filled with as much detail as he’d managed to write down over the past few hours, “Good. This will be over soon and you can have the birthday you planned.”
“John,” she sighed, she pushed her hand through her hair, “John, I’ve read over absolutely everything we’ve been given by your version of Mer and I can’t guarantee this will work.”
He rested his hand on her shoulder, “Jeannie...”
“No, listen to me,” she said, pulling his hand off his shoulder and holding them tightly “John, you could die and I don’t care how selfish this is but I can’t lose you. Don’t do this.”
“Honey,” John soothed without thinking,” I trust Rodney, he has saved my life more times than I want to count and I’ve got two of them plus you working on this. Come here,” he pulled her off the seat and wrapped his arms around her, “Part of me doesn’t want to do this. Because he’s getting the best out of this deal.”
Jeannie gave him a confused look, “How did you work that out?”
“He gets you,” John breathed, he didn’t have much time left here, “Don’t get me wrong my friends are important to me but I’ve no one there to wake up to, to cuddle with during a movie,” he paused and smiled at her, “No one to lick cream off of.”
Jeannie let out a soft giggle, hoping the guards nearby hadn’t heard any of that.
“He gets you,” John murmured again.
They stood together in silence; John rested his cheek against her hair not thinking about everything he wanted because he knew it wasn’t his.
“What about the version of me there?” Jeannie broke the silence, “Is there no way...”
“She’s married to Caleb and they have a daughter,” John told her, “It’s too late. But she is happy, I know that.”
Jeannie slipped her arms around his neck and kissed him, they broke apart as John’s phone started to ring again.
“Guess it’s time,” John sighed, brushing his lips to her forehead.
John stood in the control room and phased out the two Rodney’s as they talked, instead he watched the woman he’d never thought of in any way other than his friend’s sister who he was now deeply in love with. He hoped that when he returned home it would be like a dream and fade fast, mostly. Jeannie was following the back and forth between the two versions of her brother, throwing things in every so often. Finally they’d agreed and John pulled himself back to the conversation.
“Alright, are you guys ready?” John said to his Rodney before Landry could ask.
“We’re fine on this side,” the Rodney from his universe said, “Remember we have one shot at this.”
With that he hung up and John turned to the other Rodney, “Well?”
“We dial the Gate in ten minutes using the data your version of me sent,” Rodney explained, “We’ll send the IDC signal and you walk through. You’ll return to your own world through your Stargate and our John will come back the same way.”
John took in a deep breath, this was the time to say goodbye. He turned to Landry and offered his hand.
“Thanks for helping me,” John told the older man as they shook hands, “If you hadn’t believed me then I’d be stuck here and no matter how tempting that might be, I’d always know I’d abandoned Atlantis.”
“It was interesting meeting you, Colonel,” Landry replied, “Good luck.”
John nodded as the older man moved away allowing him his other goodbyes in a semblance of privacy.
“Rodney,” John smiled, he rested his hand on the other man’s shoulder, “I couldn’t have done anything without your help. I think Landry’s gonna try and get the Atlantis project going here again. If you’re asked, go with them - you’re needed there. Just, take Carson along.”
Rodney laughed before shaking his hand, “Good luck, John.”
John finally turned to Jeannie and wrapped his arms around her, “Thank you for showing me...for loving...” he trailed off and gently kissed her cheek, “Just thanks. And keep him in line.”
“I will,” Jeannie brushed her lips to his, “Don’t forget us.”
John laughed, “No chance of that, especially if my Rodney knows we’re married here I’ll never hear the end of it.”
Jeannie kept her eyes on John as he entered the Gateroom, at her side her brother was giving orders and Jeannie smiled to herself as she’d finally found out just what her brother was doing. He’d given her a crash course in the Stargate so she knew what she was working on but nothing had prepared her for seeing it in action.
“Wow,” she breathed, she shook herself and returned her focus to John.
He was standing at the base of the ramp and turned to look back at them.
“IDC code sent,” Rodney reported over the comm., “Go now.”
John gave them a small wave before he ran up the ramp and disappeared into the blue centre of the Stargate. Panic filled her as the Gate shut down, the light from the wormhole snapping away suddenly and although her logical mind reminded her that this was what was meant to happen part of her felt she’d lost her husband forever. A hand gently squeezed her shoulder and Jeannie looked up to find her brother watching her, without a word he pulled her close as they waited the agonising moments until the Stargate started to dial again.
“Please, please, please,” Jeannie murmured under her breath as Rodney moved back to his computer.
“Signal received,” Rodney reported before looking up at the Gate.
Jeannie watched holding her breath until a ripple formed on the event horizon moments before a figure stumbled out. Without thought Jeannie darted out of the control room, down the stairs and round into the Gateroom to the bottom of the ramp. She stopped, watching warily as the new arrival looked at her.
John reached out and pulled her into his arms, “I missed you.”
Jeannie wrapped her arms around him tightly, laughing slightly hysterical as she realised it was finally over and she had her husband back.
*********************************************
John staggered out of the event horizon, his head swimming but he quickly steadied himself and looked around.
“Atlantis,” he sighed in relief as he saw the large bright Gateroom before him, light streaming in through the stained glass windows.
“Colonel?”
John looked over at where the leader of Atlantis stood watching him quizzically.
“Good to see you, Mr Woolsey,” John grinned accepting the other man’s hand before turning to his team.
They were standing in a tight group watching him warily; John turned and slapped Rodney on the shoulder as he nodded at the other two.
“No matter what Universe I’m in,” John told Rodney, “You still manage to pull a rabbit out of the hat.”
Rodney snorted, “We needed you around here. He had your memories but lacked your suicidal tendencies.”
Teyla gently slapped Rodney’s arm, “You were missed, Colonel.”
“Yeah,” Ronon added, “He didn’t last ten seconds against me, you last at least twenty.”
“Dr Keller wants you in the infirmary,” Woolsey interrupted their reunion before John could retort.
John nodded and started out, followed by the rest of his team who all wanted to make sure he was really okay - no matter how much Rodney had said he would be.
John sat on a balcony; he’d chosen it because it was in a quiet part of the city. He’d been back home for a total of six hours now and he still wasn’t able to forget. What was even worse Rodney knew who his alternate was married to and he’d said nothing annoying. He’d actually just shrugged and noted she could have married the ‘English Major’ in two worlds. John was weirded out by that more than anything.
“John?”
“Hey, Teyla,” John drawled as she walked onto the balcony Torren sleeping against her shoulder.
She gracefully sat across from him without the baby waking and stared at him, “You are not truly happy to be home, are you?”
“Why d’you think that?” John asked taken back by her question.
Teyla smiled, “Because I know you well. You saw a life you could have had and it is something you still want.”
John leaned his head back against the wall and sighed, “I’ve never seen her in that way before, Teyla and now...life is back to normal.”
“John...”
“Everything is fine,” John cut her off, he stood and started back inside, “Thanks for the talk.”
As he walked away leaving her sitting with her son John pulled out his lucky coin, this tiny disc controlled his destiny so many times. Tossing it in the air John caught it, his fist tightened round the metal feeling it bite into his palm. This was his life, the coin had guided him here and this was what he was supposed to be doing - he wasn’t going to be jealous of what another version of him had.
At least he was going to try.