I really have no explanation for this one. It's rather strange... *shugs* Enjoy.

Oh, and just so you know, I'm basically ignoring season five on this.

Here's the thing about Atlantis: it wasn't Earth. That should be the obvious bit, because it was on a different plant in a different galaxy, so saying that Atlantis wasn't Earth was like saying that a man wasn't a woman, it's obvious to anyone with two brain cells to rub together and a set of at least partially functional eyes.

But sometimes, especially in the beginning, it was easy to forget that Atlantis wasn't Earth.

Though, logically, it shouldn't have been all that different. The majority of the people living there were born on Earth. Sure there was Teyla and Ronon and the alien that had joined Major Lorne's team, and for a while there had been the Athosians, but they had left to find a new home.

So, given that most of the inhabitants of Atlantis were from Earth, it shouldn't have been all that different. Sure, there were considerably less people, but they all called Earth home, so Atlantis should have been Earth-like, yes?

Only, it wasn't. It was different. Earth was Earth and Atlantis was Atlantis. The only commonality was the species of sentient beings living there.

In the beginning, everyone tired to treat it like it was Earth, like home, whilst being cautious of the Wraith. But after a while, everything became slightly more relaxed and laid back. Dr. Weir was a good leader, as was Major Sheppard (a few of the original expedition members considered how different things could have been if Sumter was still around, but none of them voiced it).

When they first received the chance to return home, to go back to Earth, just for a short visit, everyone jumped at the opportunity to return home. After so long away, it's time.

But when they returned, Earth was different.

Or, rather, they were different. They had all become so accustomed to Atlantis, to relying on each other, that being on Earth was… rather discomforting. As was sleeping without the constant sound of waves that had once kept them awake countless nights.

When Elizabeth died (at that point, she'd managed to convince most of them to use her first name), it hurt everyone. She hadn't just been their leader, she had been family. That was what they were. A family. Albeit a dysfunctional one, whose members came from all different backgrounds and cultures. But a family nonetheless.

And, like every family, they fought. A lot. Usually over really stupid things, like who's turn it was to wash the sinks in the kitchen, and who had to go on the less glamorous missions and other trivial matters that would be forgotten by the end of the week.

They were lucky, when Colonel Carter was chosen to take over. Things could have turned out worse. After three years on Atlantis, in a different galaxy, their way of living differed from those who still lived on Earth. A new commander would be stuck in the mindset of Earth rules and regulations, while the other inhabitants had come to live by their own standards.

But Sam was different. She knew, she understood that things were different here. She never tried to undermine the authority of the rules that had been done away with.

Of course, no one had actually sat down to decide which rules were reasonable and which ones weren't really acceptable on Atlantis. When someone finally did, when Sam decided to make things official, to get rid of the things that get in the way of everyday operations, it caused hardly a ripple.

The day that John Sheppard kisses Rodney McKay in the mess hall, no one was really shocked. Everyone had known, or at the very least expected, that they had been in a relationship. When Evan Lorne reveals a relationship between himself and one of the women on his team, no one bats an eyelash.

Though, naturally, there was one guy who firmly believes that Don't Ask, Don't Tell should have remained firmly intact. He was vocal about it too.

There were, of course, multiple homosexual couples on Atlantis at that point (Chuck's dating one of the guys that works in Rodney's lab, and Lt. Cadman was seeing one of the nurses, and there's whispers about two of the guys in the botany lab), but this guy had it out for John and Rodney. Mostly John, because he thought that, of all people, the military commander of the base should not be a homosexual.

Sheppard no doubt had some witty retort for the man who confronted him in the middle of the 'Gateroom, shouting loudly about ethics and discretion and 'what kind of monster raised you', but before Sheppard could say anything, Ronon was punching the guy. In hindsight, it might not have been the wisest course of action on Ronon's part, but Ronon didn't seem to see any problems with his actions, and there wasn't exactly anything Earth leadership could do to him, at least not with Sam in charge.

And it wasn't just Ronon. It wasn't Ronon and Teyla and Evan and everyone who had been in the 'Gateroom at the time of the incident. And even after, Rodney and John got apologies from people who hadn't been there at the time, but who were on their side. And every time, John would take Rodney's hand and pull him into the hallway and kiss him, smiling because, for the first time in his life, he could be himself, completely and in the open, without anyone so much as saying a word. There was no one to tell him that what he was doing was wrong, that he was wrong, that he was a disgrace. Because no one cared.

Or, rather, they did care. They cared about the people who had become their family. They cared so much, that they didn't care.

Cadman and her girlfriend, Helen, had stopped by John and Rodney's quarters (John had moved all of his stuff in, now that he could), just to say thanks. Thanks for not giving up and thanks for being a kind of inspiration. Chuck and his boyfriend had thanked them too. So had several others. John often felt like, if they were back on Earth, they would be one of those inspirational gay couples on that cable channel geared toward the gay community. They'd sit there on a squishy couch, John's hand on Rodney's knee, as they told their story.

Rodney appreciated everyone's gratefulness, but it honestly made him a little uneasy sometimes. He didn't like being in the limelight like John did. He didn't think about their future so much. Not like John did. His thoughts were a little more down to Earth (or, more accurately, down to Atlantis), they're less about what cheesy inspirational interview they'll be doing one day, and more about hoping that they'll all manage to avoid being blown up this week. He was grateful when people didn't die.

Of course, he was also really grateful when people didn't turn on systems they knew nothing about and hadn't have time to investigate, like John did all the time. He really hated him sometimes.

The Wraith problem wasn't solved, not completely, but the vast majority of them had been wiped out by either human's who had resisted, or by the Replicators (though they had quickly discovered a way to deactivate the programming that sent them after the Wraith, they had taken out quite a few before hand). The remaining Wraith had gone into hibernation, much like they had done thousands of years before, leaving a few behind to waken them when they could retake control over the galaxy.

Before anyone knew it, the Atlantis Colony had been there for ten years. The Colony had grown since it first arrived. Earth sent new guys around every now and then, more scientists and soldiers to replace those who had been lost, because they still didn't understand that no one was replaceable. But for the most part, they always fell right into place, fitting in with those who'd been there longer. Now and again, someone would arrive and find that they couldn't handle living on Atlantis, whether it was that Atlantis was so empty that they had to learn to deal with the same people day in and day out, or having to adjust to a new life on a new world with new customs. Some of them just realized they really missed home.

But for most, it became home.

And then there had been kids. Evan and his wife (technically it wasn't official, but it didn't matter) had a daughter and Teyla and Kanaan had a little boy. A girl had been found abandoned on a planet they went to (not shockingly, Sam had once been in a similar situation; it seemed that every situation they'd come across, she'd been though a similar one at some point in her career). The girl was about six when they found her, but already a decent fighter and tracker. John considered that this must have been what Ronon was like as a child. Ronon had jumped at the chance to adopt her, though there wasn't really paperwork involved, other than the standard report to the SGC. Ronon raised her with the help of half the Colony he had trained her to be an even better fighter. By the time she was eleven, she could beat John up with little effort and no weapons to speak of and he really worried about what would happen to him when she was older.

Rodney found a device when he was exploring the outer regions of the city, and after days of reading the information on it, he finally understood what it did.

John had practically begged to be the first to test it. Rodney dismissed it as a joke.

Rodney wasn't so sure they should test it until they had a better idea of how it worked. The Ancients didn't exactly have the best track record with their inventions and Rodney had been at the bad end of several too many of them. He wasn't going to be the butt of this joke.

Rodney really hated it when people did stupid things like step into a device they only sort of understand, and he hated it even more when it was people who he cared about at least a little (though he would never even consider telling Cadman that). Apparently Cadman and her girlfriend had really wanted a kid of their own and this machine had been their shot at it. In retrospection, Rodney really wished he had put up guards around the lab when he'd gone to bed that night, though John assured him that it probably wouldn't have done a while lot of good.

Thankfully, the device wasn't all that harmful. Nothing funny happened, nothing dangerous (at least, not as far as they could tell). It mapped out the two donor DNA samples and splices them together. The process seemed virtually instantaneous: step in, push the button, swirling lights, brief pause, poof, you've got a baby. It was unclear whether the device had been created to accommodate homosexual couples, or to accommodate women who didn't want to carry a child in their womb for nearly a year.

Once they were sure it was safe for all parties, John was nearly begging again. No, he had begged, outright begged and Rodney was kind of surprised. Really surprised. He had thought John's initial interest was just a joke.

It wasn't.

As it turned out, if you programmed the device properly, you could design exactly how the child could turn out. Well, as close as 'Lantian possible. Not everything was based on genetics. No one did it though, no one programmed their child to look perfect. There was something nice about the surprise, and, well, they'd all seen that movie. It never turned out well.

When General O'Neill retired, he requested permission to do so on Atlantis. It took some doing, but two months later, he arrived on Atlantis via the Athena, one of Earth's newly commissioned ship. Atlantis welcomed him with open arms. He'd been involved with the Stargate program since the beginning and already had built friendships with many of the inhabitants of Atlantis. One in particular. He was hardly on Atlantis a week before he and Sam were together. There was a celebration held in a 'ballroom' near the base of the main tower. It was everyone's way of saying 'Finally!', though there were a few, the ones who had worked closer with them once upon a time, who couldn't help but think that their relationship had been kind of anti-climactic after years of epic unresolved sexual tension.

One of the scientists found an Ancient Repository in the still unexplored regions of the city (though that region was quickly getting smaller). Naturally, Jack was the one to stick his head in it. Sam, of course, was freaking out because the last two times this happened, the Asguard had been the ones to help. The same Asguard who were now extinct. Carter had tried to contact the Asguard who resided in the Pegasus galaxy, but her suspicions were confirmed when they denied the request to assist them.

Jack lasted longer than he had before. He started speaking Ancient within a few hours and, gratefully, there we several members of the expedition that spoke the language and were able to translate. By day three, he was playing with devices he didn't understand but somehow understood and trying to build new ones.

Daniel arrived on Atlantis a few days later, then he and Sam and McKay spent the next two weeks studying the Repository, while Jack slowly lost his ability to communicate and gained access to the knowledge of the Ancients (much of it, at this point, information the colony had already discovered), before they were able to reverse the effects, leaving Jack perfectly back to normal.

After a particularly brutal mission that SG-1 took on, Mitchell had been forced to either take a desk job, or retire. He chose the latter and followed O'Neill's footsteps to Atlantis. The rest of SG-1: Daniel, Teal'c and Vala, arrived not much later, having no desire to break in a new teammate.

Over time, Atlantis became an afterthought in the minds of Earth leadership, especially after the truth about the Stargate and space travel and all the things they'd been hiding from the general population for over twenty years. When Earth start colonizing other planets around the Milky Way, Atlantis had fallen off Earth's radar. Atlantis was quite capable of taking care of itself while Earth took care of the new colonies as they settled in.

Here's the thing about Atlantis: it isn't Earth. It's an independent entity separate from Earth. They didn't need Earth's help, they didn't need anything; they could take care of themselves.

Atlantis isn't Earth.

And that's just the way the 'Lantians like it.

Finis

Let me know what you think on this.

Thanks to loveanimals for correcting a mistake I made. It's been amended.