A/N – I put this post season five. Atlantis is back in the Pegasus Galaxy and has rejoined the fight against the Wraith. I love the Outcast episode and hated the way John's brother treated him. Bear with me until the end, everything is not what is seems.

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Chapter 1

He looked up from his reports when the doorbell rang and frowned. He'd told everyone at the office that he was not to be disturbed until Monday. If this was someone who'd ignored that order, they'd be looking for a new job before the sun set and he'd make damn sure that it would be a fruitless search. He was almost done with the work he'd brought home and then was planning a leisurely drive down the coast with his latest bit of fluff over the weekend. He heard the front door open and figured Brennan had finally answered it. He wished he could get rid of the old fossil, but his father had been adamant that the old butler would have a job for as long as he wanted. He'd offered the man incentive after incentive to retire but he'd refused each time. He wanted to hire someone who would better reflect his station in life. When the expected knock came at the door, he called out. "Enter." His tone was less then welcoming.

Nicholas Brennan sighed before he opened the door to the den, his heart heavy. He'd worked for this family for a long time. The old man had been a cold fish and his oldest son was just like him. The only thing that mattered to either one of them was the business and money. Now, the old man's wife, she'd been the reason he'd stayed. She'd been warm and kind, not at all the kind of woman he would've expected the Patrick Sheppard he'd come to know, to be attracted to, let alone marry and have two children with. When she'd passed away from cancer, the younger son had become his focus. John had never fit in with his father or brother and there was always tension in the house once that loving presence was gone. He'd tried to shelter the young boy but it had been hard as he was only an employee in the eyes of the older men. John, however, had been just like his mother and was the closest thing to a son he'd ever had.

When John joined the Air Force, Nicholas had been proud of him. His father, however, had been furious. His sons would join the business or they were no sons of his. The fight that followed had led to John leaving the house and never returning, at least while his father had been alive. He'd tried to keep in touch with the young man but he'd quickly been assigned to some top secret unit and had been away much of the time, even after he'd married. The marriage hadn't lasted long and he'd disappeared again. Nicholas stayed on, despite the bribes that his current employer had offered him to retire, ever hopeful that the youngest Sheppard would find his way home. He had, for his father's funeral, but was gone again before Nicholas had even had a chance to speak with him. Something that had infuriated his employer. Nicholas had gone on a well deserved short vacation just after the funeral and had missed John's return to see Dave. He'd heard, repeatedly, how his employer had had to open his own door to him. It had saddened him that he'd missed another opportunity and now he had a feeling there would be no more.

"Sir, there are four men from the military here to see you." His voice cracked a little. He knew what it meant, even if they wouldn't tell him. That was a message reserved for the family.

Dave, however, didn't understand the significance and sighed heavily. "What's he done now?" The rift between brothers had closed a little after their father's funeral but he'd never understood his younger brother. They were just too different. In his mind, John was an embarrassment. Even if their father had relented later in life, Dave hadn't. The black mark against his record, almost resulting in his court martial and possible incarceration, had never been spoken about, swept under the rug in the off chance that it would have a negative impact on the company. Oh, he'd made an attempt when John had showed up at his door after bolting from the funeral, claiming some national security incident or other. A likely story but one he'd stuck to during his later visit. When he'd left, Dave had been relieved, still worried that John would try to claim some part of the business, challenge the will, despite his assurances that he wasn't interested.

Not bothering to answer the question, the old butler asked. "Would you like me to show them in?"

"Yes, yes, by all means, show them in so I can find out if they expect me to bail him out. They're wasting their time, I'm not giving them one red cent. He can use his own money." It still rankled that the old man had changed his will not too long before he died, putting John back in. Granted, the lion's share went to him, but he should have gotten all of it.

Nicholas stifled his retort and merely bowed. He left the room and shortly returned with four uniformed men. The oldest of the four held out his hand and asked. "Mr. David Sheppard?"

Dave stood up and shook the proffered hand. He could be charming when he wanted to be and put on his best smile. "Yes, I'm David Sheppard. What can I do for our armed forces today?" Inwardly, he seethed with resentment that his brother had put him in an uncomfortable situation.

"I'm Major Evan Lorne, United States Air Force." Lorne turned and indicated the men standing next to him. "This is Captain Sean Avery, United States Marine Corp. Captain Paul Walters, United States Army and Lieutenant Carl Stevenson, United States Navy." As each one was introduced, they reached out to shake Dave's hand. Lorne continued. "Sir, I.." He paused and swallowed hard, one of the younger men beside him reached out and patted his shoulder. "Sir, I regret to inform you that your brother, Lt. Colonel John Sheppard, was killed in action two months ago." The man's voice betrayed his emotion concerning the loss and Dave was surprised. He'd always known this was a possibility but didn't the movies always show someone of rank, along with a Chaplain, delivering the bad news? Maybe John's death hadn't warranted that honor. Still, who his family was, should have.

"What happened?" Dave asked, surprised that he was more bothered by the news than he'd expected. He'd prepared himself to hear something like this, long ago.

"We were engaged in a battle where we were seriously outnumbered by the enemy. Your brother was able to take out quite a few of the enemy's…fighters to help even the odds but his…plane was hit. He went down in a remote area but managed to take the last of the enemy down with him. When we were finally able to reach his location, it was too late, his…plane…had exploded and there was nothing left." Dave noticed the odd pauses in the man's explanation and Lorne knew it. Until his C.O.'s brother signed the confidentiality agreement he carried with him, he couldn't very well tell him that they'd been fighting the Wraith and that the Colonel had once again managed to swipe a dart from the hive ship to cause confusion and havoc amongst the drones, while the Daedalus pummeled the hive ship with missiles. Once again, it had been Sheppard's quick, unorthodox thinking that had turned the tide. This time, however, there was no last minute miracle and they'd lost him. The only thing they'd found of him had been his dog tags beside the wreckage of the purloined dart. It had burned so hot, there was nothing left of the body. The fact that the dog tags had survived, was a minor miracle in, and of, itself.

Somewhat surprised at the lack of emotion his friend's brother showed. Lorne said. "Sir, your brother died a hero. He helped save many lives that day." The hive ship had been on its way to cull another world and Sheppard had talked the SGC into stopping them. The Daedalus had been in orbit above Atlantis and, surprisingly, Colonel Caldwell had agreed and thrown his weight behind Sheppard's. Over all, the mission had been a success but the cost, in the opinion of many of the personnel at the base, had been too high.

Dave's control had slipped a little while he processed the fact that he would never see his brother again, and he spoke without thinking. "That's a relief."

"Sir?" Lorne was shocked.

He realized his gaffe and tried to make up for it. "I'm sorry, it really hasn't sunk in yet. I meant, it's good to know that his sacrifice wasn't in vain."

Lorne wasn't sure if the man meant it or not, he couldn't get a read on him, so different from the Sheppard brother he had come to know and count on as a friend even though the man had been his Commanding Officer, something he'd never experienced before and wasn't sure he would again. John Sheppard had been unique. His position of authority was something John never flaunted and only used when he had to. He had a feeling this brother would have thrown his weight around and expected everyone to bow down to him. He was of a mind not to make the offer he'd been charged with and even thought that the Colonel would agree, but he'd been given an order and he'd carry it out.

"Sir, the base is planning a memorial service on Sunday. We've been given permission to invite you as long as you sign this confidentiality agreement." He pulled it out of the briefcase he was carrying and offered it to Dave.

"Are you kidding me?"

"No, sir. I'm afraid it's necessary and a matter of national security. If you're to be allowed on base to attend, you must sign it and understand that any breach will result in the full force of not only the United States military, but those of several other nations, being brought to bear on you and your company."

"That sounds like a threat, Major." Dave was not happy. His plans for the weekend were looking more and more iffy, the longer the man talked.

"No, sir, it is what it is. If you wish to attend, you'll need to sign the agreement and then pack to come with us immediately. We'll need to travel quite a distance."

"Is it dangerous, where this base is?"

"The base itself is quite safe." Lorne was struggling with the fact that John's brother was more concerned about whether he'd be safe than the fact that his sibling was dead. He was fast coming to realize why the man had never talked about his family.

Dave really didn't want to go but he worried about how that would look. If word got out that he'd refused to attend a memorial service for his hero brother, it would make him look bad and could have a negative impact on the company. He sat down at his desk and began to read the agreement. It was pretty standard. You will not talk to anyone about any of the locations you might visit nor about anything you might see or experience, etc., etc., etc. He shrugged, pulled his Mont Blanc pen out of the desk and signed it. He slid it across the desk and the Major initialed as a witness before slipping it back into his briefcase.

"Sir, if you could be ready within the half hour?"

"What do I need to bring?"

"Comfortable clothes and walking shoes, something to wear to the service and something to sleep in. We anticipate that you'll be home by Monday night, Tuesday at the latest."

Dave got up to head to his room when he remembered something that made him stop. "You said John died two months ago. Why are you showing up here now?" And why couldn't you've shown up just a bit later, when I would've been gone? He added silently.

"Those of us under his command refused to give up hope that he might've survived somehow. The presence of the dog tags was not conclusive, not to us. We'd all seen John, I mean Colonel Sheppard, survive things that most others wouldn't have." The Colonel hadn't been perfect, not by any stretch. He could be rash and impractical, childish even at times, but every man and woman on Atlantis knew he would do whatever needed to be done to protect them, including risking his own life, something he'd done more than once. He'd never asked any of them to do something he wasn't willing to do. Lorne was pretty sure that Caldwell would be their new C.O. and he would place bets that the man would never be on an off world team.

"I see. And, is this normal? Four different branches of the armed forces coming to make the notification? You, I can see, you're Air Force like John, but Army, Navy and Marines?"

"Our base is…unusual. All branches of the U.S. military, along with several other nations, as well as civilians, work there. It's basically a research facility on foreign soil. It was a great honor to be chosen for this duty and was hotly contested amongst those that served on base, even some that were no longer stationed there, threw their name in. Your brother was our Commanding Officer and a good man. He will be sorely missed." Lorne was trying to impress on Dave what kind of person his brother had become but the man was completely missing the point.

"Yes, I'm sure. Well, let me go pack and make a couple phone calls to cancel some plans I had for the rest of the weekend. Brennan will take care of you." With that, he turned and left the room.

Lorne turned to the men with him and said. "Well, that didn't exactly go as I expected."

A snort behind them had all four turning to look at the butler who had been standing unobtrusively behind them, listening to every word. His face betrayed the emotion they'd expected to see on their C.O.'s brother's face. It was the first real emotion any of them had seen. Nicholas looked closely at them and liked what he saw. "May I ask a question?"

Lorne smiled at him. "Of course."

"Did Master John….did he suffer at the end?" Tears rolled down his face, unheeded, as he asked the question that had been on his mind from the moment this man had told them what happened.

"No, sir. We don't believe so. We believe it was quick and he suffered no pain." Lorne wasn't one hundred percent sure of this but found himself wanting to offer comfort to the old man.

"That's…that's good. I wouldn't want him to have suffered. He was such a good boy." The man covered his eyes, ashamed at his lack of control. He was surprised to feel a hand on his shoulder and he lowered his hands to find all four men standing around him, almost protectively.

Lorne responded. "He turned into a good man. A man I counted as a good friend." He paused and smiled a little. "What was he like as a boy?"

Nicholas smiled back and began to tell stories of John Sheppard as a young boy, eliciting soft laughter from the others as he recounted tales of the times the younger brother had gotten into trouble, both with his inquisitive mind and his sense of adventure. In turn, Lorne and the others told stories of their own about their C.O. Not of war, not of enemies that seemed to be made out of nightmares, but the playful John they had come to know. Stories of him racing remote controlled cars with Dr. McKay, of skateboarding through the hallways of the base, telling ghost stories to the native children.

They were all laughing at something Sean was saying when Dave reentered the room, carrying a suit bag and a small suitcase. He frowned at the sight of his butler fraternizing with his guests, especially as they were uninvited. The laughter stopped and at least Brennan had the smarts to look guilty. They would be talking about this when he returned from his forced journey. Walking up to the group of men, he thrust his suit bag at Sean and handed the suitcase to Lorne. The jaws of all four military personnel dropped open. Somehow, they had just become David Sheppard's personal bell boys.

Dave scowled at Nicholas and said. "Make sure you take care of everything while I'm gone. Anyone who calls or comes by is to be told I'm at my brother's memorial and that he died a hero." He was angry as his bit of fluff hadn't taken the cancellation of their plans well at all. She hadn't seemed to care that he'd lost his brother and was on his way to a service for him, she only cared that it impacted her wants. Walking in on the laughing group hadn't helped his anger any, only made it worse. He turned to Lorne. "Shall we? I thought you said we needed to get going."

Lorne tilted his head at the man and voiced what the other three were thinking. "You're not much like your brother, are you?"

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