SGA FIC: THE WORLD YOU KNOW 2/10 [PG]
Nov. 14th, 2010 09:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
x_erikah_xTitle: The World You Know 2/10
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
x_erikah_x
Word Count: 39,637
Rating: PG
Genre: Gen, Team, Adventure, Crossover
Characters: John Sheppard, Rodney McKay, Ronon Dex, Teyla Emmagan, Samantha Carter, Cameron Mitchell, Daniel Jackson, Vala Mal Doran, Teal'c and other cameos by SG1 secondary characters
Disclaimer: Stargate and related characters are a property of Metro-Goldwin-Mayer Studios Inc., no infringements of rights intended.
Spoilers: Season 5 of SGA and as far as The Ark of Truth in SG1
Summary: The team finds an Ancient lab and ends up in trouble in some strange place. Or isn't it? Crossover with SG1. Set shortly after season 5 of SGA after they somehow return to Pegasus.
Author Notes: Thanksdrewandian for cheerleading and first reading for me, even though I made you wait one year for the finished version. Thanks so much sherry57 for the beta. This fis is SO much better with your help. *hugs* Thanks so much girls!
I’ll post one chapter every couple of days, maybe one a day depending on my availability. The fic is finished, complete and edited already.
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
John drummed his fingers on the table, trying to restrain himself from growling. He was left to wait for nearly six hours without even a phone call. He would also like to leave a complaint about the cops with anger control issues and that accidentally banged their suspects heads against the police car. And he would be able to do that as soon as the SGC bailed him out of this mess. He could already imagine the look on some of his superior officers' faces when they heard about this.
He'd thought he'd done sharing a filthy cell with dozens of drunks. In between the smell of urine and vomit, John had been really glad to be escorted out. He'd been hoping to see his team along with someone from the SGC when the bars opened, but the cop had turned around a corner and locked him in another room.
It was small with a weak lamp overhead. He'd been forced to sit on a very uncomfortable metal chair facing another chair, the one-way mirror on his left. So, John was left with drumming his fingers on the table.
He stopped himself when the door of the interrogation room finally opened. A middle aged man in a cheap suit entered.
"Hello, John," he started. "I'm Detective Reid." The detective sat down. "I must say I'm surprised to see you around these parts." He waved his hand around. "What's the reason for your visit?"
"I already asked your people that I need to make a call. Why the delay?"
"You are in the Air Force," he stated calmly. "And I am a police officer. We are in the same side of things."
"I'll talk to General Landry now, please." John crossed his arms, not wanting to chat.
"What base?"
"NORAD."
The man stood up and exited the room. The noise of chatter outside entered for a brief moment then it was gone after the door was closed. Several minutes passed in which John had to stand up and walk around. The door opened again and Reid entered.
"There's no General Landry in NORAD, son." The detective sat down and invited John to do the same.
"Maybe you're just not looking well because I'm pretty sure there is."
"Well, Major, maybe he's not there anymore. It's been some time since you've been out of the picture."
John narrowed his eyes.
"Look," Reid continued. "I won't pretend to know what the hell happened in Afghanistan. For all I know it could have been a living hell."
So that was why they had taken so long to talk to him. They had been looking for his records. John was genuinely surprised that they had been able to access it, let alone read it. John tensed slightly, feeling there was something off.
"I'm not saying anything until I talk with either Landry or General Jack O'Neill."
The man nodded, stood up and exited the room again.
He returned several minutes later and sat.
"Again, no General O'Neill anywhere."
John watched him and couldn't tell if the man was lying or not, except for the fact that John knew he was. No one would be able to find any military officer, especially generals, in such short time.
"Why did you come to LA?" Reid crossed his legs.
"If you won't call him, then I will," John said, leaning forward.
"Like I said, there is no Jack O'Neill currently in the Air Force."
John resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Maybe you dialed the wrong number. Do you want me to write it down for you?"
"If you just talk to me I can decide if I let you go or not." Reid crossed his arms and waited.
John sighed loudly. It would be a lot easier to go back to Pegasus without a cop questioning him.
"Why are you in the city?"
"I hear it's good for surfing and spotting celebrities." Maybe antagonizing the cop wasn't the best choice, but the guy had it coming.
"What else?"
John nearly smiled at the almost annoyed tone the cop used in the question.
"That's pretty much it." John nodded.
"Some people like to come to this city for more illegal purposes."
John knew how interrogations worked. He had been at the other side of the table several times. Whatever he said, Reid would just twist to an admission of guilt. So John simply decided not to react at all.
"Is that why you came?" Reid continued.
What did Reid want with him? If he had gone through his file, then he knew this whole thing was pointless. John crossed his arms to reinforce the idea that he was not talking.
"I know something bad happened back in Afghanistan."
John rolled his eyes. Now he’d have to stand bad psychiatry.
"Did you like it there?"
"Did you lose your friends?"
John eyed the detective and burned the words 'I won't speak to you until you call my superiors' on his forehead.
"Did it make you rethink what you were doing there and decide to come back?" Reid was a pro and didn't have any aggressive posture. "But of course…" He leaned over. "There's the fact that you were found in a bar largely known for the many illegal activities conducted inside, and guess what? Minutes after an attack to an old man's shop was made. Witness swear they saw a man in dark military clothes and wild spiky hair running from the shop after it was destroyed. It's so easy to jump to conclusions under these circumstances, John."
*****
"I knew something had to go wrong!" Rodney whispered angrily as he peaked around the corner.
"What do we do now?" Teyla asked softly.
Rodney turned to his team. "Well, we have to call the SGC and inform them," he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "They'll get Sheppard out and pick us up in no time."
He turned back to the street then back at Ronon and Teyla. "We can't risk getting separated or caught under any circumstances, okay? The police is still looking around, probably blaming terrorists or whatever. If you two happen to get caught, don't resist, please." He gave a pointed look at Ronon. "Don't attack them and I beg you not to point any guns. If they interrogate you, the only thing out of your mouths has to be 'I want a lawyer’ and nothing more. Clear?" He glanced at each one of them as they nodded their understanding.
Rodney knew it wouldn't be easy getting to the big General only on collect calls, so he started thinking of alternatives. Silence hovered for a few moments.
He snapped his fingers. "I know what I'm gonna do! I'm going to call Jeannie. Collect call. I think she'll accept it. I'll explain what happened and she can call the big guys."
Rodney reached his gun holster and unclipped it. "We'll have to leave our gear. We can't walk around like this." He unzipped his vest. "C'mon guys!" he ordered when he saw no one moving.
"I'm not leaving my gun." Ronon crossed his arms.
Rodney dropped his vest by Sheppard's. "Keeping your gun is way more trouble than we need right now. You could go to jail to say the least. If anyone sees it working it'll be even worse. You do remember the no disclosure agreement you both had to sign, don't you?"
Rodney could see that Ronon didn't like that idea in the slightest.
"Look, we'll just go for a walk around the block and look for a phone in a quiet enough place, okay? If we are really lucky in finding one..."
"I can stay here. I'm not going to get caught." He opened his arms to show how non-threatening he could be.
"What if I get caught, huh?"
"Then, if we're with you, then I'll be caught too and I'd rather not be."
Rodney rolled his eyes. "I get your point," he conceded. "Teyla, you stay here too. I'll take my earpiece."
He turned around and went on his way.
*****
Ronon stared at the night sky, trying to get a glimpse of stars. He could count the ones he found with the fingers of one hand. He went back to looking down the street and was met with the same sight as all other times. Red lights were still hovering around adjacent streets, sometimes passing by and stopping groups of people to make questions.
Ronon let his eyes wander back to the sky. It reminded him of Sateda. When Ronon stood in the middle of the capital, the sky would look exactly the same. A few blinking stars, fading as if worn out and one big orange moon standing over the ancestral ring right above the square. He smiled.
"He should have been back by now," Teyla said.
Ronon turned his head but didn't straighten up from his leaned position against the wall. "We didn't hear any police cars sirens. He's probably still looking for a phone or waiting for Jeannie to call back."
"Still, it's been over twenty minutes." Her composed expression showed a hint of concern barely visible under the faint light.
Ronon snapped his head around at the sound of footsteps, but soon re-holstered his gun.
He looked at Teyla. "See? He's here."
"So?" she asked expectantly.
"Nothing." Rodney raised a hand. "Zero. Nada. Stupid phone company insists her number doesn't exist. Hell, they couldn't even find her name anywhere in Vancouver or Canada."
Ronon frowned. "What does that mean?"
"I have no idea." McKay had a puzzled expression. "Unless she poofed out of existence or moved away without telling me, her number should have worked. I tried calling the military too. They shut me down completely. Wouldn't take my clearance or identification."
"Why would they do that?" Teyla asked.
"Didn't you just hear me say I have no idea?" McKay looked at her condescendingly. "The point is, there's something not right here. I should have been able to call Jeannie. Even her cell phone doesn't exist. Or her husband's."
Ronon wasn't native to Earth but he knew how things could work smoothly on the planet. He had been there enough times to know how things like the Internet and telephones worked, even without being able to use them properly. Rodney being confused by his own planet couldn't be anything good.
"So, what do we do?" Ronon asked.
"I think we should lay low. Find some place and stay there. At least the two of you, because... you know... you can stand out a bit in the crowd." Rodney waved his hand mostly at Ronon's direction. "I'll then go to the nearest precinct and try to find Sheppard. If they have the same problem about contacting the Air Force he could be in trouble." His eyes unfocused in thought for a few moments. "We'll have to use the cover of night while we still have time. The sun’ll rise in five hours. Hopefully we can sort this out in the morning." He swallowed. "I hope."
*****
"This place is..." Teyla looked around the room. It was old and dusty, like it had not been used for decades.
"Yes..." Rodney made a disgusted face as he stepped over a puddle of something. "No one is more repulsed than I am, but we can't exactly afford a five star hotel at the moment. I forgot my wallet in my other off-world gear."
Teyla's gaze traveled again to the room where they stood. It was inside an old abandoned building, its windows cracked and broken, doors hanging by a single screw and the painting on the walls peeling. The furniture was covered with a thick layer of dust, and lots of trash lay around. Teyla saw some needles, a couple of empty injections and tubes and she wasn't sure she wanted to check what the big dark smear on the wall was.
"It'll do."
Rodney's face twisted in disgust when he looked at the wasted medical supplies. "Well, for someone that spent seven years running around in the wilds this must be the honeymoon suite. It’s probably infested with all sorts of horrific diseases and... ugh..." Rodney frowned as Ronon threw some fallen bricks away. "Could you stop that! We need to stay quiet."
"Yes, you're doing a wonderful job of that." Ronon glared.
"Is that supposed to mean anything?"
Teyla managed to smile.
Ronon dusted his clothes and hands and sat on the bricks he collected. "Stop complaining, McKay. You'll be out after Sheppard soon enough."
"And what do we do in the meantime? Huh?"
Ronon shot a glare at Rodney. "Why don't you stay quiet?"
"Because... we need to find out what's going on here." Rodney walked around the place and caused dust to rise. "I mean, why can't I call anyone?"
"This is your planet, Rodney," Teyla started. "Is there anyone you can contact?"
"No." He looked around, then shook his head and remained where he stood. "Jeannie, her husband, the SGC... I don't know anyone else."
Teyla nodded. She also did not understand why Rodney had failed to contact his people. Rodney should be in his element, but he wasn't.
"Maybe the reason you failed to make contact with anyone is because it's still night. Maybe we will have more luck in the morning."
Rodney sighed. "Yeah, maybe."
*****
John was being taken towards the interrogation room again where, he was told, his attorney waited. Being treated like a criminal was not all unexpected when traveling to alien planets, but it was not something he ever considered happening on his own one. He just hoped to be able to sort out this misunderstanding soon enough without too much bureaucracy, so he could be on his way back to Atlantis.
The interrogation from before had gone only one way and finally, after a long hour of the detective's monotone voice, John decided he was tired of that crap and called for a lawyer. He entered the room and saw a short young woman with short dark hair.
"Hi, I'm Helena Brants," she said as she extended her hand. "I'm your legal attorney."
John took her hand awkwardly with the cuffs still in his wrists. She had a firm shake that showed a lot of confidence.
"I advise you not to say anything no matter what the detectives say."
John held back a grunt and they sat down at the same time. His cuffs were removed just as the creek of the door announced that Reid had entered the room. John slumped back in his chair and crossed his arms.
Brants rose to her feet. "To start with, I want to say that your evidence against my client does not incriminate him in any act."
Reid sat down. "His description fits," he delivered readily.
She smoothed her skirt as she sat. "You can't charge him on murder, robbery and breaking and entering based on a description of a person in the dark."
"Oh, that is just the tip of the iceberg." Reid threw a closed folder on the table. "You'll be facing desertion charges, son."
John came forward in his chair. "What? That's ridiculous!"
This cop was taking things way too far. His attorney opened the folder and John eyed it suspiciously. She frowned and placed it back on the table for him to have full sight of its contents.
He narrowed his eyes at what the bold letters said.
'DECEASED'
John opened his mouth and closed it a couple of times. He raised his head. His lawyer looked like she didn't like the surprise all that much. Well, he didn't like it either. He was pretty sure that was not what his file looked like. He looked further down and didn't recognize the assignments, and the dates of his transfers and promotions were also wrong.
"Sheppard, Major John P." Reid started repeating what the file said. "Pilot, US Air Force, KIA, War Against Terrorism, Afghanistan, 2001."
"That's not possible," John interjected. "Your file is all wrong. I've never been to most of these places." He threw the papers back onto the table.
He doubted it could be real, but then, who would go that far just to incriminate him?
The attorney leaned forward and poked the papers on the table. "What's the meaning of all this?"
Reid leaned in return. "Looks like desertion for me. What does it look like to you?" Reid had the satisfied smile of a person that had just hit the jackpot.
"I'm not a deserter!" Brants held John's arm to stop him from speaking further. "What the hell is going on here?"
"From what I can see, you faked your death to get out of the service." Reid's lips quirked at the corners. "How very honorable." He tilted his head. "How were you able to enter the country? Fake documents?"
How he wanted to answer that question. 'No, actually I was transported from another galaxy by a bright pulse of energy.'
"We are not speaking another word until I see a full psychiatric evaluation of my client." Brants stood up.
John turned his head abruptly and opened his mouth, but she continued speaking.
"We've all seen the cases, Reid. You can't win this one. I want some time with my client in the private room."
John wanted to argue but he knew it wouldn't help his case the least. He couldn't explain what was happening. He only knew that there was something very wrong and that the implications it had on their situation were really not good.
*****
John was taken to another room. It was tiny and it only had space for two chairs facing each other and a small desk in between. He was forced to sit down and then was cuffed to a handle on the wall. He held his protest at the roughness of the guard and simply glared when his wrist was thrown onto the table.
"We can talk freely in the private room," Brants said as she sat. She folded her hands on the table and looked at John for a second before continuing. "I'll call my psychiatrist to evaluate your overall mental health and you're not going to complain. Their case on the death of the store owner is not very strong, so we will focus on the desertion. I'm sure you must have heard all about the other cases that rained down on us after the invasion of Israel. We're going to do the same here. With enough luck it's going to have the same result and you'll only have to spend a couple years under observation."
Either he had missed way too much of Earth's recent events or he really was going nuts, because he had no idea what the hell she had just said.
"Wait just a minute. What are you talking about? And what's this place?" He looked around and saw cream colored tiles.
She shook her head. "The private room?"
John nodded. He had never seen any police stations with rooms like that.
"The last Amendment?" she said as if it was obvious.
John shook his head. "What?"
She sighed. "Where have you been?" She leaned forward. "Private rooms need to be present in every public building in America to ensure private conversations between people, most importantly between client and assigned lawyer." She spoke fast, as if she had memorized the words.
"Okay," John nodded. "What about the rest?"
She sighed again. "Your disappearance occurred during the American invasion of Israel, so we're going to use this here. You will--"
"What?" John interrupted.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "The way American soldiers were captured, tortured and executed when Israel was occupied by our forces. We're going to throw this ball at them, you were close enough to be part of the game as we saw from the most recent cases, and you went missing the exact week 75% of the soldiers went missing. It's too much of a coincidence for any court to dismiss. But it'll only hold if you fail your evaluation." She barely stopped to breathe. "Then all you need to worry is remembering the exact details of what happened out there."
None of that rang any bells, and it only increased John's suspicions exponentially. Damn, he really needed to talk to Rodney. John sighed and rubbed his face with his free hand. He decided to join in this little game for now and try to find a way to find his team.
"All right. But first you need to find some people. They can help." John paused. "They were there too, but you have to promise nothing's gonna happen to them." John stared at her intently.
She narrowed her eyes and seemed in doubt. "Are they military too?"
"No they're all civilians." He licked his lips. "Is it a problem?"
"If they are civilians, then this could help our case. Where can I find them?" She took a small notebook from her purse and a pen.
"I don't really know, they were waiting for me close to the bar where I was arrested. They must have seen it and will come looking for me."
She nodded. "I'll need names."
"You gotta promise--"
"You're my client, everything we discuss inside this room is a secret." Her face softened. "Nothing will happen to them."
John bit his lip. "All right. Doctor Rodney McKay."
"Doctor?" she asked as she wrote down the name.
"Not the medical kind. He's not hard to find, you'll hear him before you see him. He'll probably be with a woman and a big man with dreads. Just tell him I need to talk to them."
"Okay." She closed her notebook then looked up at him. "Don't worry. I'll get you out of this mess." She gave a small smile.
John simply pursed lips and nodded. The legal issue was the least of his problems.
*****
Chapter 3
Author:
x_erikah_xWord Count: 39,637
Rating: PG
Genre: Gen, Team, Adventure, Crossover
Characters: John Sheppard, Rodney McKay, Ronon Dex, Teyla Emmagan, Samantha Carter, Cameron Mitchell, Daniel Jackson, Vala Mal Doran, Teal'c and other cameos by SG1 secondary characters
Disclaimer: Stargate and related characters are a property of Metro-Goldwin-Mayer Studios Inc., no infringements of rights intended.
Spoilers: Season 5 of SGA and as far as The Ark of Truth in SG1
Summary: The team finds an Ancient lab and ends up in trouble in some strange place. Or isn't it? Crossover with SG1. Set shortly after season 5 of SGA after they somehow return to Pegasus.
Author Notes: Thanks
drewandian for cheerleading and first reading for me, even though I made you wait one year for the finished version. Thanks so much sherry57 for the beta. This fis is SO much better with your help. *hugs* Thanks so much girls!I’ll post one chapter every couple of days, maybe one a day depending on my availability. The fic is finished, complete and edited already.
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
John drummed his fingers on the table, trying to restrain himself from growling. He was left to wait for nearly six hours without even a phone call. He would also like to leave a complaint about the cops with anger control issues and that accidentally banged their suspects heads against the police car. And he would be able to do that as soon as the SGC bailed him out of this mess. He could already imagine the look on some of his superior officers' faces when they heard about this.
He'd thought he'd done sharing a filthy cell with dozens of drunks. In between the smell of urine and vomit, John had been really glad to be escorted out. He'd been hoping to see his team along with someone from the SGC when the bars opened, but the cop had turned around a corner and locked him in another room.
It was small with a weak lamp overhead. He'd been forced to sit on a very uncomfortable metal chair facing another chair, the one-way mirror on his left. So, John was left with drumming his fingers on the table.
He stopped himself when the door of the interrogation room finally opened. A middle aged man in a cheap suit entered.
"Hello, John," he started. "I'm Detective Reid." The detective sat down. "I must say I'm surprised to see you around these parts." He waved his hand around. "What's the reason for your visit?"
"I already asked your people that I need to make a call. Why the delay?"
"You are in the Air Force," he stated calmly. "And I am a police officer. We are in the same side of things."
"I'll talk to General Landry now, please." John crossed his arms, not wanting to chat.
"What base?"
"NORAD."
The man stood up and exited the room. The noise of chatter outside entered for a brief moment then it was gone after the door was closed. Several minutes passed in which John had to stand up and walk around. The door opened again and Reid entered.
"There's no General Landry in NORAD, son." The detective sat down and invited John to do the same.
"Maybe you're just not looking well because I'm pretty sure there is."
"Well, Major, maybe he's not there anymore. It's been some time since you've been out of the picture."
John narrowed his eyes.
"Look," Reid continued. "I won't pretend to know what the hell happened in Afghanistan. For all I know it could have been a living hell."
So that was why they had taken so long to talk to him. They had been looking for his records. John was genuinely surprised that they had been able to access it, let alone read it. John tensed slightly, feeling there was something off.
"I'm not saying anything until I talk with either Landry or General Jack O'Neill."
The man nodded, stood up and exited the room again.
He returned several minutes later and sat.
"Again, no General O'Neill anywhere."
John watched him and couldn't tell if the man was lying or not, except for the fact that John knew he was. No one would be able to find any military officer, especially generals, in such short time.
"Why did you come to LA?" Reid crossed his legs.
"If you won't call him, then I will," John said, leaning forward.
"Like I said, there is no Jack O'Neill currently in the Air Force."
John resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Maybe you dialed the wrong number. Do you want me to write it down for you?"
"If you just talk to me I can decide if I let you go or not." Reid crossed his arms and waited.
John sighed loudly. It would be a lot easier to go back to Pegasus without a cop questioning him.
"Why are you in the city?"
"I hear it's good for surfing and spotting celebrities." Maybe antagonizing the cop wasn't the best choice, but the guy had it coming.
"What else?"
John nearly smiled at the almost annoyed tone the cop used in the question.
"That's pretty much it." John nodded.
"Some people like to come to this city for more illegal purposes."
John knew how interrogations worked. He had been at the other side of the table several times. Whatever he said, Reid would just twist to an admission of guilt. So John simply decided not to react at all.
"Is that why you came?" Reid continued.
What did Reid want with him? If he had gone through his file, then he knew this whole thing was pointless. John crossed his arms to reinforce the idea that he was not talking.
"I know something bad happened back in Afghanistan."
John rolled his eyes. Now he’d have to stand bad psychiatry.
"Did you like it there?"
"Did you lose your friends?"
John eyed the detective and burned the words 'I won't speak to you until you call my superiors' on his forehead.
"Did it make you rethink what you were doing there and decide to come back?" Reid was a pro and didn't have any aggressive posture. "But of course…" He leaned over. "There's the fact that you were found in a bar largely known for the many illegal activities conducted inside, and guess what? Minutes after an attack to an old man's shop was made. Witness swear they saw a man in dark military clothes and wild spiky hair running from the shop after it was destroyed. It's so easy to jump to conclusions under these circumstances, John."
"I knew something had to go wrong!" Rodney whispered angrily as he peaked around the corner.
"What do we do now?" Teyla asked softly.
Rodney turned to his team. "Well, we have to call the SGC and inform them," he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "They'll get Sheppard out and pick us up in no time."
He turned back to the street then back at Ronon and Teyla. "We can't risk getting separated or caught under any circumstances, okay? The police is still looking around, probably blaming terrorists or whatever. If you two happen to get caught, don't resist, please." He gave a pointed look at Ronon. "Don't attack them and I beg you not to point any guns. If they interrogate you, the only thing out of your mouths has to be 'I want a lawyer’ and nothing more. Clear?" He glanced at each one of them as they nodded their understanding.
Rodney knew it wouldn't be easy getting to the big General only on collect calls, so he started thinking of alternatives. Silence hovered for a few moments.
He snapped his fingers. "I know what I'm gonna do! I'm going to call Jeannie. Collect call. I think she'll accept it. I'll explain what happened and she can call the big guys."
Rodney reached his gun holster and unclipped it. "We'll have to leave our gear. We can't walk around like this." He unzipped his vest. "C'mon guys!" he ordered when he saw no one moving.
"I'm not leaving my gun." Ronon crossed his arms.
Rodney dropped his vest by Sheppard's. "Keeping your gun is way more trouble than we need right now. You could go to jail to say the least. If anyone sees it working it'll be even worse. You do remember the no disclosure agreement you both had to sign, don't you?"
Rodney could see that Ronon didn't like that idea in the slightest.
"Look, we'll just go for a walk around the block and look for a phone in a quiet enough place, okay? If we are really lucky in finding one..."
"I can stay here. I'm not going to get caught." He opened his arms to show how non-threatening he could be.
"What if I get caught, huh?"
"Then, if we're with you, then I'll be caught too and I'd rather not be."
Rodney rolled his eyes. "I get your point," he conceded. "Teyla, you stay here too. I'll take my earpiece."
He turned around and went on his way.
Ronon stared at the night sky, trying to get a glimpse of stars. He could count the ones he found with the fingers of one hand. He went back to looking down the street and was met with the same sight as all other times. Red lights were still hovering around adjacent streets, sometimes passing by and stopping groups of people to make questions.
Ronon let his eyes wander back to the sky. It reminded him of Sateda. When Ronon stood in the middle of the capital, the sky would look exactly the same. A few blinking stars, fading as if worn out and one big orange moon standing over the ancestral ring right above the square. He smiled.
"He should have been back by now," Teyla said.
Ronon turned his head but didn't straighten up from his leaned position against the wall. "We didn't hear any police cars sirens. He's probably still looking for a phone or waiting for Jeannie to call back."
"Still, it's been over twenty minutes." Her composed expression showed a hint of concern barely visible under the faint light.
Ronon snapped his head around at the sound of footsteps, but soon re-holstered his gun.
He looked at Teyla. "See? He's here."
"So?" she asked expectantly.
"Nothing." Rodney raised a hand. "Zero. Nada. Stupid phone company insists her number doesn't exist. Hell, they couldn't even find her name anywhere in Vancouver or Canada."
Ronon frowned. "What does that mean?"
"I have no idea." McKay had a puzzled expression. "Unless she poofed out of existence or moved away without telling me, her number should have worked. I tried calling the military too. They shut me down completely. Wouldn't take my clearance or identification."
"Why would they do that?" Teyla asked.
"Didn't you just hear me say I have no idea?" McKay looked at her condescendingly. "The point is, there's something not right here. I should have been able to call Jeannie. Even her cell phone doesn't exist. Or her husband's."
Ronon wasn't native to Earth but he knew how things could work smoothly on the planet. He had been there enough times to know how things like the Internet and telephones worked, even without being able to use them properly. Rodney being confused by his own planet couldn't be anything good.
"So, what do we do?" Ronon asked.
"I think we should lay low. Find some place and stay there. At least the two of you, because... you know... you can stand out a bit in the crowd." Rodney waved his hand mostly at Ronon's direction. "I'll then go to the nearest precinct and try to find Sheppard. If they have the same problem about contacting the Air Force he could be in trouble." His eyes unfocused in thought for a few moments. "We'll have to use the cover of night while we still have time. The sun’ll rise in five hours. Hopefully we can sort this out in the morning." He swallowed. "I hope."
"This place is..." Teyla looked around the room. It was old and dusty, like it had not been used for decades.
"Yes..." Rodney made a disgusted face as he stepped over a puddle of something. "No one is more repulsed than I am, but we can't exactly afford a five star hotel at the moment. I forgot my wallet in my other off-world gear."
Teyla's gaze traveled again to the room where they stood. It was inside an old abandoned building, its windows cracked and broken, doors hanging by a single screw and the painting on the walls peeling. The furniture was covered with a thick layer of dust, and lots of trash lay around. Teyla saw some needles, a couple of empty injections and tubes and she wasn't sure she wanted to check what the big dark smear on the wall was.
"It'll do."
Rodney's face twisted in disgust when he looked at the wasted medical supplies. "Well, for someone that spent seven years running around in the wilds this must be the honeymoon suite. It’s probably infested with all sorts of horrific diseases and... ugh..." Rodney frowned as Ronon threw some fallen bricks away. "Could you stop that! We need to stay quiet."
"Yes, you're doing a wonderful job of that." Ronon glared.
"Is that supposed to mean anything?"
Teyla managed to smile.
Ronon dusted his clothes and hands and sat on the bricks he collected. "Stop complaining, McKay. You'll be out after Sheppard soon enough."
"And what do we do in the meantime? Huh?"
Ronon shot a glare at Rodney. "Why don't you stay quiet?"
"Because... we need to find out what's going on here." Rodney walked around the place and caused dust to rise. "I mean, why can't I call anyone?"
"This is your planet, Rodney," Teyla started. "Is there anyone you can contact?"
"No." He looked around, then shook his head and remained where he stood. "Jeannie, her husband, the SGC... I don't know anyone else."
Teyla nodded. She also did not understand why Rodney had failed to contact his people. Rodney should be in his element, but he wasn't.
"Maybe the reason you failed to make contact with anyone is because it's still night. Maybe we will have more luck in the morning."
Rodney sighed. "Yeah, maybe."
John was being taken towards the interrogation room again where, he was told, his attorney waited. Being treated like a criminal was not all unexpected when traveling to alien planets, but it was not something he ever considered happening on his own one. He just hoped to be able to sort out this misunderstanding soon enough without too much bureaucracy, so he could be on his way back to Atlantis.
The interrogation from before had gone only one way and finally, after a long hour of the detective's monotone voice, John decided he was tired of that crap and called for a lawyer. He entered the room and saw a short young woman with short dark hair.
"Hi, I'm Helena Brants," she said as she extended her hand. "I'm your legal attorney."
John took her hand awkwardly with the cuffs still in his wrists. She had a firm shake that showed a lot of confidence.
"I advise you not to say anything no matter what the detectives say."
John held back a grunt and they sat down at the same time. His cuffs were removed just as the creek of the door announced that Reid had entered the room. John slumped back in his chair and crossed his arms.
Brants rose to her feet. "To start with, I want to say that your evidence against my client does not incriminate him in any act."
Reid sat down. "His description fits," he delivered readily.
She smoothed her skirt as she sat. "You can't charge him on murder, robbery and breaking and entering based on a description of a person in the dark."
"Oh, that is just the tip of the iceberg." Reid threw a closed folder on the table. "You'll be facing desertion charges, son."
John came forward in his chair. "What? That's ridiculous!"
This cop was taking things way too far. His attorney opened the folder and John eyed it suspiciously. She frowned and placed it back on the table for him to have full sight of its contents.
He narrowed his eyes at what the bold letters said.
'DECEASED'
John opened his mouth and closed it a couple of times. He raised his head. His lawyer looked like she didn't like the surprise all that much. Well, he didn't like it either. He was pretty sure that was not what his file looked like. He looked further down and didn't recognize the assignments, and the dates of his transfers and promotions were also wrong.
"Sheppard, Major John P." Reid started repeating what the file said. "Pilot, US Air Force, KIA, War Against Terrorism, Afghanistan, 2001."
"That's not possible," John interjected. "Your file is all wrong. I've never been to most of these places." He threw the papers back onto the table.
He doubted it could be real, but then, who would go that far just to incriminate him?
The attorney leaned forward and poked the papers on the table. "What's the meaning of all this?"
Reid leaned in return. "Looks like desertion for me. What does it look like to you?" Reid had the satisfied smile of a person that had just hit the jackpot.
"I'm not a deserter!" Brants held John's arm to stop him from speaking further. "What the hell is going on here?"
"From what I can see, you faked your death to get out of the service." Reid's lips quirked at the corners. "How very honorable." He tilted his head. "How were you able to enter the country? Fake documents?"
How he wanted to answer that question. 'No, actually I was transported from another galaxy by a bright pulse of energy.'
"We are not speaking another word until I see a full psychiatric evaluation of my client." Brants stood up.
John turned his head abruptly and opened his mouth, but she continued speaking.
"We've all seen the cases, Reid. You can't win this one. I want some time with my client in the private room."
John wanted to argue but he knew it wouldn't help his case the least. He couldn't explain what was happening. He only knew that there was something very wrong and that the implications it had on their situation were really not good.
John was taken to another room. It was tiny and it only had space for two chairs facing each other and a small desk in between. He was forced to sit down and then was cuffed to a handle on the wall. He held his protest at the roughness of the guard and simply glared when his wrist was thrown onto the table.
"We can talk freely in the private room," Brants said as she sat. She folded her hands on the table and looked at John for a second before continuing. "I'll call my psychiatrist to evaluate your overall mental health and you're not going to complain. Their case on the death of the store owner is not very strong, so we will focus on the desertion. I'm sure you must have heard all about the other cases that rained down on us after the invasion of Israel. We're going to do the same here. With enough luck it's going to have the same result and you'll only have to spend a couple years under observation."
Either he had missed way too much of Earth's recent events or he really was going nuts, because he had no idea what the hell she had just said.
"Wait just a minute. What are you talking about? And what's this place?" He looked around and saw cream colored tiles.
She shook her head. "The private room?"
John nodded. He had never seen any police stations with rooms like that.
"The last Amendment?" she said as if it was obvious.
John shook his head. "What?"
She sighed. "Where have you been?" She leaned forward. "Private rooms need to be present in every public building in America to ensure private conversations between people, most importantly between client and assigned lawyer." She spoke fast, as if she had memorized the words.
"Okay," John nodded. "What about the rest?"
She sighed again. "Your disappearance occurred during the American invasion of Israel, so we're going to use this here. You will--"
"What?" John interrupted.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "The way American soldiers were captured, tortured and executed when Israel was occupied by our forces. We're going to throw this ball at them, you were close enough to be part of the game as we saw from the most recent cases, and you went missing the exact week 75% of the soldiers went missing. It's too much of a coincidence for any court to dismiss. But it'll only hold if you fail your evaluation." She barely stopped to breathe. "Then all you need to worry is remembering the exact details of what happened out there."
None of that rang any bells, and it only increased John's suspicions exponentially. Damn, he really needed to talk to Rodney. John sighed and rubbed his face with his free hand. He decided to join in this little game for now and try to find a way to find his team.
"All right. But first you need to find some people. They can help." John paused. "They were there too, but you have to promise nothing's gonna happen to them." John stared at her intently.
She narrowed her eyes and seemed in doubt. "Are they military too?"
"No they're all civilians." He licked his lips. "Is it a problem?"
"If they are civilians, then this could help our case. Where can I find them?" She took a small notebook from her purse and a pen.
"I don't really know, they were waiting for me close to the bar where I was arrested. They must have seen it and will come looking for me."
She nodded. "I'll need names."
"You gotta promise--"
"You're my client, everything we discuss inside this room is a secret." Her face softened. "Nothing will happen to them."
John bit his lip. "All right. Doctor Rodney McKay."
"Doctor?" she asked as she wrote down the name.
"Not the medical kind. He's not hard to find, you'll hear him before you see him. He'll probably be with a woman and a big man with dreads. Just tell him I need to talk to them."
"Okay." She closed her notebook then looked up at him. "Don't worry. I'll get you out of this mess." She gave a small smile.
John simply pursed lips and nodded. The legal issue was the least of his problems.
Chapter 3
