Part 13 - So Hollywood's Dreams are Sometimes True

John opened his eyes not knowing how long he'd been asleep but the infirmary seemed awfully quiet and empty. Teyla and Ronon were nowhere to be seen, but John could see that his brother was still there sitting motionless and very pensive on the chair by his bed. "Dave?"

Dave lifted his head to look directly into the eyes of a brother he never truly understood or knew, up until now. "If he'd known, dad would have been so…very...very proud of you."

John frowned. He had a horrible feeling that an embarrassing moment was coming up. "I take it Teyla and Ronon told you more then?"

"Yeah…well…it was mainly Teyla's talking and Ronon grunting. Gods…John, that guy…that big guy is more of a brother to you than I've ever been. He truly loves you."

Embarrassing moment. "Yeah…in a brotherly sort of way. We have a common goal, so I guess that kind of unites us stronger than normal. He's been on my team now for four years and well…we became more than just colleagues. Same goes for Teyla and even Rodney. I guess you could say that they're family." Then John realized his mistake by the distressed look on Dave's face. "I mean…."

"Its okay, John, I think I understand. Dad and I were never there for you. We never supported your career choice. We even cut you off after your divorce and your troubles in Afghanistan. That day…the one when you stormed out forever, dad ranted on for hours about how a son of his could be so useless, such a total disappointment to him and such an utter failure. And you know the worst thing, I agreed with him. I guess…in a way, I was jealous of your freedom, so I ended up cutting you off too." Dave's voice nearly broke and John thought he saw a tear or two." I'm so sorry, John."

By now John was feeling really uncomfortable. He didn't do emotional scenes too well and this was so unlike his cool, calm, and usually straightforward brother. He chewed on his lower lip, nervously. "Dave…what's past is past. There's nothing we can do to change that. You know some of the fault rests with me too. I was too stubborn to go home. Too pig headed to try and put things right between us."

Dave nodded. "Then I would say that's the problem with us Sheppard men. Too damn proud and stubborn for our own good. Well, from this moment on I'm putting things right." He reached over and lightly touched John's arm. "I was wrong to judge you on dad's attitude and he was wrong to expect you to follow us into the business. He was also wrong to denounce you for one failed marriage and a black mark. But like I told you at the wake, dad always regretted pushing you away like that." Dave paused. He removed his hand but kept his eyes on John. "I just wish he was still around. As I said before, he'd be so damn proud of you."

John was going to joke about how dad would have needed clearance and the like, but the moment was way too serious for that, so he just replied. "I like to think that he would have been."

Without warning, Dave suddenly rose and grabbed John in a brotherly hug. John stiffened, his usual reaction, but he forced this body to relax and return the hug. And for the first time in years, John Sheppard felt totally at ease. And it felt darn good.

The moment ended and Dave sat back down. "So I want to hear more about this lost city of yours but before you tell me, I'd like to clear up something that has been bothering me since dad's wake."

"Okay." John felt slight uneasy wondering what Dave had to say.

"You know, John, I was pretty angry for quite a while about you leaving like that. First you made the effort to come and then promptly left again with no real explanation and with a strange woman that I hadn't been introduced to. I just didn't understand how anything could be more important than paying your respects to a lost parent."

John interrupted. "I'm sorry, Dave, I know you were disappointed in me. I could sense that you were still very angry when I visited you afterwards even though you tried very to hide it. I longed to explain everything to you then, but I just couldn't."

"It's alright, John, I fully understand that now. Ronon has explained everything and I think even dad would have understood the need to remove a dangerous rogue…err…android was it?"

John smiled. "It's called a replicator. They're made up of nanite cells." When Dave looked blank, John explained further. "A nanite is a microscopic device capable of infiltrating human cells and manipulating their D.N.A... In the case of a replicator they're made up of millions of these nanites in a human form and are nearly totally indestructible. If he had been allowed to run loose, he could have killed thousands."

Dave looked worried. "Then how did you get rid of him?"

"Didn't Ronon tell you about that?"

Dave thought for a minute. "He said something about how you sent it into orbit and it burnt up in the atmosphere."

John nodded. "Yeah, it was something like that, but I had a lot of help." John's mind drifted for a moment as he thought about Ava and her life in the virtual world.

Dave pulled him back to the present when he said. "It's a pity I can't tell Aunt Myrtle. She was pretty disgusted that you walked out on her brother's wake like that."

John thought for a moment. He hadn't even realized that the aunt had been there, she certainly hadn't made an effort to greet him. "Even if you could tell her, Dave, it wouldn't make any difference that interfering old crow ever liked me anyway."

Dave laughed. "No…in her opinion you're not a true Sheppard, but that's mainly because you joined the Air Force instead of entering the firm. Let's not talk about her. Are you going to tell me more about Atlantis?"

"Yeah, I'd like to." And being one John's favorite subjects, him did just that.

-oOo-

The party had gone on long into the night and he vaguely remembered someone helping him to his room. It hadn't been John. Now far into a new day, Dave had time to reflect.

Somehow, he'd managed to find the control room and its balcony overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge. He stood and watched as a stream of never-ending traffic passed over its length, totally unaware of the legendary city not so far away. Totally unaware of its beauty and its mystery as a gateway to the stars.

Dave's tour the day before had left him feeling nothing other than flabbergasted and awe-inspired. In his humble opinion, the Atlantis Gateroom was far more spectacular than the SGC's. He'd even witnessed the Stargate in operation when the President had been given a first hand demonstration. Up until that moment, Dave hadn't truly believed in it. He hadn't truly comprehended that a set-up like this could possibly be genuine. Stories of aliens, starships, of other planets and galaxies were a thing of science fiction and he'd never been a fan. Now he had found out that Hollywood's fantasies were not only possible but some were indeed true.

Yet, most fulfilling of all had been just watching his brother in the foreground while he helped to show the President around. He'd looked so alive and handsome in his full-dress uniform, which had caused more than a few female heads to turn his way. His brother so well respected and loved by these people, a hero in every sense of the word. It left Dave feeling incredibly proud of his little brother and he swore from this day on that his relationship with John would never be neglected again.

The door whooshed behind him and Dave turned around hoping to see John. More than little disappointed went it turned out to be the irritating scientist Rodney McKay.

"Ah…there you are." The man twittered. Dave almost felt like taking a dive off the balcony but it was one hell of a long way down. "Hold this for me."

Dave looked at the strangely patterned, round object in McKay's hand with suspicion and made no move to take it. "Have you seen John yet?" he asked.

The question threw Rodney off. "What? I'm not his keeper."

"Play nice, McKay." A familiar voice reprimanded. They both turned to see John approaching, looking a tad fatigued.

Dave looked him up and down. "Have you slept at all?"

"Of course I have, but yesterday was a long day and I'm still not up to par yet."

"Huh…he's admitting that? Believe me, Dave, this is a first. You must be having a good influence on him."

"Rodney, it's not the first time I've admitted that and it's only been a few weeks since I was shot, so give me a break. What's that you've got anyway?"

McKay looked a little guilty. "Just something I wanted Dave to hold."

"Oh yeah, trying to find out if my brother has the ATA gene, are you?"

'Well…yes, why not?"

"Because it won't make any difference. Dave's not likely to be joining the expedition now, is he?" John turned thoughtful. "Yeah well, it's not like we have an expedition at the moment anyway. Not as long as we're stuck on Earth. And it looks like we'll be here for quite a while longer. Seems that the powers that be just can't make up their minds as to whether our adventures in the Pegasus Galaxy should continue or not."

Dave hadn't got a clue as to what they were talking about but he took the thing from McKay's hand and held it without being told to do so. The object reminded lifeless.

John and Rodney turned to look at each other. Rodney looked baffled. "Why hasn't he got the gene?"

"I guess it must have come from my mom's side of the family." John whispered.

McKay still looked surprised. "What?"

It was Dave and John's turn to look at each other. "We had different moms." Dave answered. "You see our dad didn't have much luck with his wives. My mom died giving birth to me and…"

"Mine died when I was twelve." John added softly.

Rodney noted that his friend had gone awfully pale. He decided not to pursue the conversation, at least not at the moment. "Well as you said it won't make any difference anyway. I just hope I'm not forced to waste my genius in Area 51 again." With that he turned his back on them and sauntered away.

When Rodney was out of earshot, John murmured. "I'm sorry about that."

"Its okay, John, I don't know what this ATA gene thing is anyway. He's a bit of a big head isn't he?"

"Yeah, but you get used to it. Underneath all that genius boasting and arrogance, he's a good man. Over the years I've known him, he's transformed from a confessed coward to someone who can watch your back." John laughed. "He still has his quirky moments but he's a good friend."

"I can see that. He obviously respects your privacy or he would have asked questions about..." From John's pained look, Dave decided not to finish the sentence. Instead, he frowned. "You never told them anything about your family, did you?"

John chewed on his lower lip. "Up until last year they didn't even know I had one."

At first, Dave felt a degree of anger but then he considered John's point of view. "Well, at least they know now."

"Yeah, but the past still remains in here." John pointed to his head.

"Are you still bearing that torch, John? Even after all this time?"

John thought about it long and hard. The words of the Sakari A.I. came to mind – You torture yourself every day. Maybe, he did. "I guess it's something you never really get over."

"So you've been trying to make up for it ever since. John…what happened to Katherine was never your fault. How many times do you need it hear that?"

"You can say it as much as you like but it doesn't change anything. Mom died because of me."

"She died defending you from kidnappers. Come on, John, when you think about it, if anyone's to blame, then it should have been dad. He's the one who had too much wealth, making it a very lucrative proposition for anyone to nab you or me. He's the one who failed to employ enough security to protect us."

John held up his hand. "Okay, I get your point." John let his memory drift back to that fateful moment. To the day of the attempted kidnapping.

His mother's frantic screams roared in his ears as she shouted for help outside their home as two men dressed in black tried to roughly bundle him into a dark unmarked van. He was more upset by the sight of his new red bike lying all broken and twisted. It's front wheel sticking up and still spinning, slowly. Then a shot rang out so loudly that it nearly deafened him. Darkness came after that and he knew nothing more until he woke up in hospital to learn that his mother was dead and he hadn't done a damn thing to help her.

Maybe Dave was right, but old habits die hard. Riddled with guilt, he'd been trying to make up for that error ever since.

However, Dave wasn't finished. "Nobody expected a twelve year old to fight them off. You were fortunate that they panicked after the shot alerted our staff and ran off. They could have shot you instead of just knocking you out. That would have killed dad for sure." Dave paused for a moment. "You know something…he was just like you. He bore that guilt right up until his death, not only for Katherine but for driving you away just because he disagreed with your career choice. Did you ever stop to question why?"

John shook his head. "Fear, John. He was terrified of losing you in some senseless battle on foreign soil. So it was far easier to push you away. It seems like a crazy thing to do but I'm pretty sure that was the main reason and not because you wouldn't go into the firm." He grabbed John firmly by the shoulders. "Come on, its time to put it all aside, little brother. Let the ghosts rest."

John looked directly into his brother's eyes and for the first time, he felt his guilt ease. It may never go away entirely but he felt better than he had in years. Maybe he had paid his dues. "So that was wisdom, David Sheppard style. You always were the sensible one."

"With a baby brother like you, I had to be." But Dave had said it with a smile. Then he changed the subject. "Well, John, one thing for sure my life is going to be forever changed. I'll go back to my office and continue my work but I'll always be thinking about what I've learned these last few weeks. And probably end up worrying about you even more."

"Don't do that or you'll go prematurely gray."

Dave laughed. "Yeah, probably." Then he fished into his pocket and pulled out a golden key. "Before I leave today, I want to give you this." He handed the key over.

John looked at it, mystified. "Is this a key to your safe deposit or something?"

"Not quite. It's part of your inheritance."

"I didn't think dad had left me anything?"

"Well, it's taken quite a while to sort out the estate and you were kind of difficult to get hold of after the testimony was read. However, he left you the beach house and a small retirement fund."

John looked skeptical. "Really?"

"If you don't believe me, you can ask the family lawyer for a copy of the testimony."

"Err…no that's not the reason I said that. It's the retirement fund. If I manage to make it that far, the Air Force has a pretty good pension scheme."

"Yes, I'm sure they do but probably not to dad's standards. As far as I know it can be paid out as a lump sum once you reach sixty, then you can do whatever you like with it."

John nodded, wondering just how much money was involved. Knowing his father it was probably a couple of million or so. "And the beach house is the one in New England, right?"

"For our surfer baby, no way. It's the one on Kauai."

John couldn't believe it. Other memories surfaced of happier times and vacations spent messing around in the surf. "I didn't know dad had still owned that?"

"He never went there in later years. Too many memories, I guess, but he kept it and rented it out to friends and business partners. So whatever you want to do with it is up to you. If you need an agent for the times when you won't be using it, you can use mine. They're very reliable and would only rent out to trustworthy people. It could bring in a nice little income."

John bore a happy smile. "Yeah, I guess so but first off, I'm going to use it myself. I'm still on sick leave for at least another two weeks, so Kauai here I come. I mean what's the worst thing that can happen to me there? Oh yeah, a volcano blows up in my face. Been there, done that. "

Dave looked alarmed. "That's not funny, John. Anyway, I don't think Kauai has any active volcanoes at the moment." Getting away from the subject, he asked. "Will you be going on your own?"

"If necessary, but I intend to invite a few folks along. If they want to come, then that's great. How about you?"

Dave hesitated, thinking that he really should get back to work but when he opened his mouth that's not what came out. "You know, I haven't had a real vacation since dad died and as the firm seems to be running smoothly without my continuous supervision, I'll take you up on that offer."

"Bring Helen along if you want to."

"Err no…after I left the SCG to go home for a couple of weeks, Helen came around, and I suddenly realized just how shallow that woman really is. All she complained about was the fact that I'd been away for far too long, that I hadn't contacted her enough and that I hadn't brought her any expensive gifts. She never listened or cared about my explanation. She never even asked how you were fairing, so I dumped her."

"Okay. No luck with your love life either, huh?"

"Yeah. I don't know, John, I think I'm destined to stay a bachelor for the rest of my life. I just can't seem to find anyone that doesn't want me for my money."

"Yeah, I know what you mean…for me it's not money, it's the opportunity. Most of the women here are under my command and the others are often intimated by me or something like that. Let's just say that any romance I've had has been off base."

Dave smiled. "Yeah, McKay told me about of few of those."

"Oh he did, did he? I'll get him for that."

Dave just laughed before asking. "And what about this Rachel from Bracton?"

"What? That was just a pleasant evening. I socialized with her."

"If you say so. Have you contacted her yet?"

"Yeah. I called to tell her that I was on the mend and to thank her for her help. So that's it. Maybe we could go girl hunting on Kauai? You never know, we may get lucky." John said with a wink.

"With your looks and my charm we…,"

McKay's voice abruptly interrupted giving Dave no chance to finish his sentence. "Are you two still out here?"

"Yes, Rodney. What do you want this time?"

"Just came to say goodbye."

John blinked. He had no idea that Rodney was going anywhere. "Sorry did I miss something?"

"You were too busy flirting with the President's aide last night to notice anything I said."

"Was not! Besides she wasn't really my type and she's married."

"Never stopped you before."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Rodney looked smug. "Oh, have you got a short memory? Or maybe that hit on the head was harder than they thought? Two months back, you flirting with the councilor's wife on M2R 257. I'm telling you Dave, we nearly ended up with the biggest diplomatic crisis on our hands, ever."

John got all defensive. "It wasn't my fault! I didn't know she was his wife. You're never going to let me forget that, are you?"

"Nope."

Dave had been following the conversation from one to the other like watching a tennis match. In the end he just burst out laughing. "Will you two listen to yourselves? You're bickering like a couple of old women. Are you always like this?"

Both heads nodded and said in unison. "Yes." Dave just shook his head but he totally understood their friendship now.

John still wore a big smile. "So where're ya going?"

"We still haven't visited Jennifer's dad yet. We got kind of sidetracked by a trouble finding individual."

"I try my best. So it's up to visit daddy, huh?"

"Yes."

"Don't fancy a trip to Kauai afterwards, do you?"

"Err…no."

"Okay, just asking, but that's where me and Dave are going."

Rodney began to edge away. He simply hated the idea of all that surf, sea and sand. Not to mention needing a darn good sun-blocker. "Well have fun and try not to get into anymore trouble."

"I won't." John reassured him.

"Don't worry, I'll look after him, Rodney." And that's exactly what Dave planned to do as he was now a part of John's life and it felt really good.

For John the feeling was mutual. He stood in silent companionship shoulder to shoulder with his brother as they watched life beyond the city's cloak. Who would have thought that something good could have come out of an act of violence? Yet something had, even if it took his near death to the mend fences with Dave. And life was really good because now he had two families, one on Earth and one on Atlantis. So whatever the future may hold, John felt better about it than at any time in the past. His friends may drift away, get married or whatever but John would always have his brother.

With a smile, he turned to Dave. "Come on, I think it's time you met Todd."

"Who's Todd?"

"My last surprise."

And it was, even if Dave felt like shitting bricks when Todd opened his mouth to show his pointy teeth as he grinned and said. "Ah…so you survived, Johnnnn Shepparrrrd. As I knew you would."

The End

Well that's it. I really enjoyed writing this story and reading your reviews. I guess if TPTB ever get around to making that movie it will be nothing at all like this.