Epilogue

John stood in the control room. Teyla stood on his left, fingers intertwined with his. Weir stood on his right. Rodney sat in a chair at the primary control panel while Dr. Zelenka sat at the dialing board.

Everyone was there, they all stood around the gate, eagerly waiting for the main event.

It's been a year since John was hit by the orange pulse. In that year, the Atlantis team found four ZPMs. They were about to make a connection with Earth.

"All systems are ready to go, Elizabeth," Rodney announced.

Weir smiled and looked at all the people down in the gate room and eagerly said, "We are about to dial the gate."

Everyone in the room anxiously shifted. Elizabeth turned to Dr. Zelenka and smiled, "Dial the gate."

Dr. Zelenka began dialing the address for Earth. Upon dialing the last chevron, Zelenka paused dramatically. John got frustrated and almost shouted, "What are you waiting for?"

Zelenka smirked and pressed the point of origin. The Stargate roared to life and the whole room filled with applause. John and Teyla embraced.

"Stargate Command, this is Weir. We have found four ZPMs and we are willing to share."

"Atlantis base, we read you. When are you ready to share? " came General O'Neill's voice.

Weir looked at John and Teyla. A group was picked to send home to see loved ones for a bit. When they got back, the next group would go. They Wraith were still a threat and someone had to keep an eye on them.

"We are ready to send some of our people right now, General."

"Excellent. Door's open, feel free to walk through!"

"Thank you, General! Major, Teyla, lead the way."

John and Teyla nodded before picking up their bags. John had an extra one which held two of the ZPMs. They walked down the steps andto the Stargate. The rest of the group began to follow as they walked through the gate.

They came through on the other side to be greeted by General O'Neill, Lt. Colonel Carter, Dr. Jackson and Teal'c.

"Welcome back to Earth, Major," O'Neill said cheerfully.

"Thank you, sir," John responded.

O'Neill gave Teyla a look over. He knew that she wasn't from Earth.

"And this is?" the General started.

"This is my fiancée, Teyla Emmagan."

O'Neill's smile got brighter as he held his hand out for Teyla to shake. Having learned what this gesture meant, Teyla took his hand and shook it.

"Welcome to Earth."

This process was repeated with the remains of SG-1. While all of the scientists that followed behind immediately signed out of the SGC, John and Teyla were stuck with SG-1 in the briefing room going over mission reports and clarifying them. The ZPMs were also given to Col. Carter.

"It's late. Why don't you two love birds head out?"

John couldn't have been happier to hear those words.

They signed out of the SGC and John retrieved his car keys. John led Teyla to the bus to get to the parking lot so they could find John's car.

They found the car after John remembered that he had a car alarm.

John didn't have to show Teyla how to use a seatbelt since she learned the time when a race made them think that they were on Earth. Teyla fell asleep a couple of times during the trip to John's place.

They finally arrived at John's place. They got out of the car and got their bags from the trunk. John looked for his house key on his keychain so that he could unlock the door. He unlocked the door and led Teyla inside. He didn't have to show her around because she also knew what his home was like.

"Doesn't quite beat Atlantis, does it?" John asked Teyla.

"No it doesn't," she agreed.

John dropped his bag on the floor and grinned evilly at Teyla. She dropped her bag on the floor and grinned back. John tackled her with a passionate kiss and led her into his room where they stayed for the rest of the night.

The next morning John laid in bed thinking about his father. John decided that he would go over to his old home and see if his father still lived there. Maybe he could patch things up before he went back to Atlantis.

John got up and went into the kitchen to make breakfast. Teyla was in the shower. John looked at all of the food he had and determined that none could be eaten. So he went back into his room and changed. He watched TV while waiting for Teyla to finish up. She walked out of the room dressed in her normal clothes.

"What are we going to do today?" she asked with a bright smile.

"I am taking you out for breakfast because I have no food. Then we are going clothes shopping. Then I'm going to stop by my father's place and see if he still lives there. There's something I need to do."

Teyla nodded. John kissed her before grabbing his keys and leading her out to the car. John took Teyla to a café and ordered them both ham and eggs. Then they went shopping for clothes.

Teyla bought three pairs of shorts, two skirts, four tank-tops, five t-shirts that hugged her figure, a pair of shoes, a pair of sandals, a bathing suit and two pairs of jeans.

John and Teyla sat in silence as John drove to the far side of town to the area where he used to live.

"This is it," John announced as he parked on the street outside the house.

There were two cars in the driveway. One was his father's. He didn't recognize the other car. John and Teyla got out of the car and walked up to the door. John took a deep breath before knocking.

"Coming!" came a muffled reply.

John tensed up as he heard steps coming to the door. The door opened up and John looked at the person that answered.

"John? Is that you?"

John smiled as his eyes welcomed the sight of his sister, Sara. He hugged her for a long time. When they released, Sara's eyes were red and puffy.

"I thought you were gone for good and I would be alone!" she cried.

Why would she be alone?

"Why would you be alone? Where's Dad?" John asked.

"Dad died seven months ago," she sighed.

He died? But how?

"What happened?"

"He had a heart attack."

Teyla finally spoke not because she was being left out but because of something else.

"I smell something burning."

Sara's eyes grew wide, "My cookies! Please come in and I'll be with you in a moment!" she said as she ran back into the kitchen.

John led Teyla inside and they sat on the couch together. They heard a groan in the kitchen and a moment later Sara came back out and sat on the coffee table that was in front of them. She looked at John very carefully then at Teyla.

"I don't think we've met. I'm Ka-Sara Sheppard. I'll never get used to normal life again."

"I am Teyla Emmagan."

John smiled, "She's my fiancée."

"Congratulations bro, to both of you!" Sara squealed like a little kid and hugged them both.

John's face finally turned into concern, "What happened to you, you were kidnapped three years ago."

"I wasn't kidnapped. I ran away."

John was shocked, "Why?"

"You knew just as well as I did that Jerome wouldn't leave me alone. I felt the best way was to disappear for a bit."

"Without telling any of us?"

"I needed everyone to believe that I was gone so that Jerome would too."

"Where did you go?"

"I went to Europe. At first I boarded with a friend but later I got my own place. Don't tell anyonebut I also got fake ID and papers so that I could go to school as somebody else. I saw Mr. Brooke a couple of times but he didn't take any notice to me."

"So, school huh?"

"Yeah! I'm an official Ambassador and Negotiator."

"Wow, that's great!"

"I moved back here eight months ago because I knew that the Brookes were gone. Dad and I made up and lived fine until…"

She didn't need to go on.

"So what are you doing now?" Teyla finally asked.

Sara looked grateful for the change of subject.

"I'm looking for a job."

For the rest of the evening, the group talked about whatever came to mind.

For the rest of the week, John and Teyla went over to visit Sara. John and Teyla were both disappointed on the last day that they would have to leave the poor girl behind.

"You'll come to visit me, right?" she asked.

"Of course we will. We don't know how long that will be though."

"Just as long as you come!"

For an adult, she can sure act like a child.

"We'll come. We have to leave now because a group of people are expecting us and we have quite the drive."

"..Okay."

They all hugged each other. John led Teyla back out to the car. As they were pulling out of the driveway, Teyla waved at Sara and she waved back.

While they were going down the road, Teyla began to talk.

"Maybe she could come to Atlantis?"

"I can't decide that. It's not up to me."

John and Teyla talked about what Atlantis would be like in the future when it was revealed to the world. They came up with many different scenarios that could happen until they got to the SGC. John parked his car and the couple went back inside the SGC. They were the last ones to get there. Other then Dr. Kavanagh at least.

"No has seen him or even talked to him over the past week. There's no answer at his home phone and his family won't talk to us," said General O'Neill.

A Kavanagh-free Atlantis? That sounded good.

"We can't wait. The next group is scheduled to come in an hour and we still have to go back. Keep trying over the week. If you can't get a hold of him over the week, I'll personally go and check on him," John said.

"Sounds like a plan. Major Sheppard, you are clear to go through the gate."

"Yessir!"

"Begin the dialing sequence."

One by the chevrons lit up and the wormhole established. John did another count to make sure that no one else was missing. No one else was, just Kavanagh. John and Teyla were the last ones to go through the gate.

"Welcome back to Atlantis, everyone. Enjoy your visits?" asked Weir's voice.

There were nods of approval and cheers from the small crowd of people. The crowd began to disperse and the next group filled the gate room.

"John, Teyla. How was your week?"

"We had fun. Oh yeah, Kavanagh has… vanished. They were going to look for him over the week. I told them that I would personally go and check on him if he hasn't been found."

"I think he doesn't want to return to Atlantis," Teyla pitched in.

"I agree," Weir added.

"Now if you'll excuse us. I would like to get rid of these bags and get something to eat. There's nothing like Atlantian food," John said.

"Very well," Weir smiled knowingly.

John and Teyla walked to their joint quarters and dropped of there's bags. After a few passionate kisses they finally made it to the mess hall for a late lunch.

Over the course of the week, they received word that Kavanagh had been found and he had resigned from the Atlantis expedition. Also, Weir decided that she would send for applicants to come to Atlantis to join the expedition. She received many back. About30 came back.

John was reading over the applicants with Rodney, Weir and Zelenka when he read over a familiar name:

Name: Sara Sheppard

Field of work: Ambassador/Negotiator

THE END

Author's Note: I would like to thank all of my reviewers for reviewing. I enjoyed reading them all. I would also like to add that I decided to add a sequel, so keep checking for that.

I can't wait to hear what you thought about this ending. So please… keep reviewing!

I would also like to say that Sara Sheppard is just a created character! I created her. I don't really know if Major Sheppard has a sister. They haven't said in the episodes so I don't know what people haven't told me.

Well… That's all for now everyone. I can't wait to start the sequel!

From Sara's Shadow