Disclaimer: I do not own nor profit from Stargate Atlantis or Stargate SG-1 in any way. This story is purely for entertainment purposes only.

Author's Note: This story is not related to my others in any way. It is a cross-over with SG-1, set in Season 2, Stargate Atlantis, just after Conversion. Nice catch to those of you who noticed I gave the wrong eye color to Cam and Daniel! This is the corrected version.

Fate's Fickle Humor

Chapter One: The Stage is Set

Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard, the military commander of Atlantis, leaned casually against the wall, watching the new personnel disembarking from the Daedalus. It was good to be in contract with Earth again, able to rotate out the burned out, ill, or injured, not to mention getting fresh supplies. Especially coffee. Half the population of the city seemed to practically live on the stuff, and whoa be it to the person who encountered them when there wasn't any of the precious liquid to be had. Riots in the mess hall were not unheard of.

It also meant that they could occasionally have visitors, like the two John had been waiting for. Watching as they came off the ship together, one pausing to speak with the Asgard, Hermiod, John was struck by the similarities between the two men. Both were of average height for an American...well, Caucasian man, with muscular, athletic builds. Thick light brown hair adorned both heads, cut in similar short styles, and the officer knew that when he was close enough, he would see identical sets of blue eyes. Anyone who didn't know better would think that they were brothers instead of fairly new team mates. With a grin of welcome, John broke off his musings and straightened, meeting the first of the two with a firm handshake.

"Dr. Jackson. Nice to see you again and welcome to Atlantis... Finally. I hope the two months that General Landry was able to give you here will prove fruitful."

Jackson rolled his eyes and his companion chuckled at the emphasis on the word 'finally'. All three men grinned at the thought of the string of bizarre incidents that had kept the archaeologist from reaching the fabled lost city earlier, despite his eagerness. To most, it would have seemed that Jackson had the worst luck in the galaxy, but this was a member of SG-1 they were talking about. Really strange came with the membership card.

"Thank you, Colonel Sheppard. And a belated congratulations on your promotion. I know Jack was pleased." Daniel couldn't help himself, gazing around in awe even as he spoke.

John's smile grew and took on a decidedly mischievous air as he turned to greet Atlantis' other guest. "Cam. Couldn't cause enough trouble in your own galaxy so you decided to come try mine?"

The other man laughed. "Why should I let you sit out here and hog all the fun, Shep? Besides, the Gou'ld were getting a little boring and General O'Neill squashed all the replicators. Had to find new bugs somewhere. Just be glad somebody talked the general out of coming along!"

John winced at the mention of bugs, trying very hard not to let the unintentional reminder of his most recent ordeal show. He had just been released back to active, gate-authorized duty this morning by a somewhat cautious trio of Dr. Beckett, Dr. Heightmeyer, and Dr. Weir. Silently, he told himself that it was not an intentional thing on the part of his friend, who probably hadn't read the report yet. After all, Colonel Caldwell had left for Earth on this latest supply run before he'd even been conscious. Much to the relief of almost everyone on Atlantis. The Daedalus commander could be a real jerk when he wanted. John was abruptly jolted out of his oh so cheery thoughts by a snort from Daniel Jackson.

"Are you kidding? Putting Jack and Colonel Sheppard, the two worst trouble magnets I know, on the same base together for two whole months! They were only in the same helicopter together for about twenty minutes, in the middle of nowhere, and they almost got shot down!"

"Hey! That wasn't my fault!" John grimaced, though he really couldn't debate the truth of Daniel's statement. Thinking about that life changing trip, he once again wondered what could possibly have made the general so impulsively grant him security clearance that day. Not that he was complaining. One of the best things that had ever happened to him was accidentally activating that Control Chair.

The second visitor, Lieutenant Colonel Cameron Mitchell, recently appointed leader of the famed SG-1, interrupted his old friend's musings.

"So, were you able to keep our identities a secret? The message we got while in route said you weren't sure. What's up?"

John smiled slightly. "Yeah, I got around it all right. The problem was I wasn't on even light duty when I got the message that you were actually aboard the Daedalus. You owe me a big one for this, buddy. Elizabeth is gonna have my head when she finds out just who our two 'temporary scientists' really are. She is the Expedition Leader, ya know." Not to mention a good friend.

It hadn't been easy, either. Though finally allowed on light duty later the same day as the message, the recovering colonel had been kept under close watch by his friends. None of them were ready to admit just how nerve wracking that close call with John's life had been, and all of them seemed to need constant reassurance that he was truly all right. Rodney McKay had been acting like a leech until both Carson Beckett and John had rounded on him.

"Colonel Sheppard, the newbies are- Dr. Jackson!"

Major Marcus Lorne, Sheppard's second-in-command, stopped dead in astonishment, eyes wide. All three men saw the major's involuntary darting glance around the area, as if expecting something to jump out at him. Daniel smiled slightly as his memory kicked in, connecting the face and name. Nice to see the man doing more than helping run a mining operation with the perpetually scowling Colonel Edwards.

"Don't worry, Major, I didn't bring any Unas with me this time." At Daniel's gently teasing reassurance, Lorne flushed.

"Unas?" John's gaze flicked back and forth between the archaeologist and the soldier. "Do I wanna know?"

"No!" Both men spoke at the same time, a slightly awkward silence descending for several seconds afterward.

"The newbies, Major?" John finally prompted his distracted subordinate.

"Oh! Yes, sir. They're all accounted for and locating quarters. Lieutenant Cadman and I will start their 'Surviving the Pegasus Galaxy 101' course tomorrow morning. Dr. McKay is scheduled to be on a run to the mainland to check on some equipment at the Athosian camp, so hopefully..."

"There won't be any repeats of 'The Galaxy According to McKay for Stupid Idiots' like last time?" John grinned.

Dr. Rodney McKay, the head of Atlantis' scientists and a member of John's team, could try the patience of a saint. When Major Lorne first arrived, he had spent less than half a day off-world with the man before reportedly wondering why John hadn't shot the egotistical genius yet. Putting the man in the same room as SG-1's Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter was supposedly the same as lighting a fire in a bone-dry forest. Instant massive conflagration. Too bad Carter hadn't been able to come with her team mates, that could have been fun.

"Uh oh... Sounds like McKay hasn't changed. Probably a good thing that Sam couldn't come." Daniel grimaced, echoing John's thoughts with a lot less enthusiasm for the potential outcome.

"Dare I ask?" Cam grinned at his friends, one eyebrow quirking up in inquiry.

"No." John immediately told him. "And you, Dr. Jackson, might be surprised." Despite the scientist's complete lack of interpersonal skills, he had become not only an intragal part of Atlantis, but a very good friend. "Just don't let him fly any Jumpers that you're in. For a genius, he has a rather faulty grasp on the concept of a straight line. Major, I'll leave our fresh fish in your capable hands and show our guests around."

"Yes, sir." Lorne nodded, snapping off a salute to both colonels before leaving.

John jerked his head in the direction of the quickly departing officer. "The East Pier is nice, but there's a lot more to see. This way."

Cam nudged his still gawking companion. "In other words, shut your mouth and follow the man, Jackson."

"What? Oh!" Daniel flushed slightly at being caught inattentive. "Right, lead on, Colonel Sheppard. And it's Daniel, please."

"John."

The other man gave the scientist his trademark crooked grin, heading off slowly down the corridor so that Daniel didn't trip over anything. It didn't take much to figure out it might take awhile for them to actually reach the guest quarters. Hopefully, one of the two officers could keep their companion from running into too many doors or walls. Deciding against the shortcut of the transporters, John led them through the maze like structure, pointing out different things that might be of interest. For once, he was honestly enjoying the role of tour guide.

"We only use a small central portion of the city day to day, so a lot of the areas we're walking through are in rough shape. Some of them haven't even been fully explored and mapped yet. We've just been too busy. We have teams out here repairing what they can, but this place is huge. If you want to go into any of the uninhabited areas, an escort is required, with full gear. We've had a few mishaps in the past, and I'd rather not be the one to tell General O'Neill that I lost his favorite archaeologist!"

John exchanged a long-suffering look with Cam as he said that, both having done their share of pulling absent minded professors out of predicaments. Daniel just grimaced, having been the source of the trouble all too often in the past. There had been a good reason that he'd instantly insisted on his innocence to Jack when the general finally reached the Antarctic Outpost.

Babysitting was one of the least popular duties that the military members of the expedition and the SGC had, but unfortunately a frequent one. Scuttlebutt was that being assigned some of the worst geeks was a clear sign that you'd royally pissed off your CO somehow. While John wasn't inclined to use it as a punishment on Atlantis, since he wanted the civilians to actually come back in one piece, he wasn't above assigning it as a testing tool. Those who passed, meaning the civilian was only a little dented when they returned, were more likely to be assigned to regular off-world duty, while those who didn't protected Atlantis or were sent home. It took a certain art, both John and Cam had found, to keeping their preoccupied charges healthy, especially when they weren't inclined to follow orders.

"Have you found any personal items, anything that would tell us more about their daily lives here?" Daniel was peering into each room as they passed, seeing nothing but empty areas and debris for the most part.

"Not a whole lot, but McKay or Zelenka can show you what we have. Most of what was left was in the various science labs, and a lot of the city was flooded before the emergency protocols that lifted us to the surface kicked in, so who knows how much washed away. The areas that were protected under the central shield were cleaned out when the city was evacuated the final time. Mostly we've been coming across things that were too dangerous to take, couldn't be physically moved, or were experimental. With the limited staff that we have, McKay says full exploration and research could take years."

Daniel absently nodded, not that surprised now that he'd gotten a good look at the sheer scale of the place. Big didn't actually cover it, despite what he'd said to Jack, and massive was only marginally more accurate. How could this thing have actually flown! Now, realizing that one or more of the beings he'd known when he was ascended had probably lived here, maybe even helped build the thing, he could kick himself for all the questions he'd failed to ask. It would have taken a century just to get all the answers, there were so many racing around his mind. Darn.