Comments: This fic was written for the Beya livejournal 'Spring Fling' challenge, in which artists produced artwork which then writers claimed to use as inspiration for a fic. I was lucky enough to pick a manipulated piece of artwork by Kariesue, which included John and Teyla on a Hawaiian beach setting. I was totally inspired by her great piece of artwork (please visit the Beya site to see it), which provoked wonderful warm Hawaiian ideas for this fic, and tied in as a sequel to my previous fic 'A Different Future' (please try and read that first if you can, it's a short fic I promise), this fic just came alive. My thanks to all those at Beya who came up with and ran the challenge, but particularly to Kariesue for the inspiration, you were my Muse for this fic Hun, along with the sweet early music of Peter Green, Otis Spann, and Lana Del Rey.

This fic is complete so I'll post it all over the long weekend.

Warnings: Set post season 5 - Atlantis on Earth. This is a fic thick with angst, and I had so much fun with it. Please also note that this really is an M rated fic.
Disclaimer: The people and the resort mentioned in this story are entirely fictitious. I have never been to Hawaii (though hope to go one day!) so any mistakes are entirely due to my lack of knowledge. I own nothing of Stargate and make no money from this so on and so forth.

0000

CHAPTER ONE – THE MISSION

It had been an uncomfortable week.

The opportunity to see several minutes of her future had fascinated Teyla and she had been eager to volunteer for the experiment. She had hoped she might learn something of her future that would give her comfort being away from her people, perhaps learn that they were safe, and that Torren would continue to grow strong. Second to that, she had hoped to see something as useful as Rodney had learnt in his first unauthorised experiment with the device constructed by the Ancestor Janus. Perhaps she would see a vital moment in a battle, or learn of future politics and knowledge that might aid Atlantis.

She had not expected to glimpse a purely personal and intimate moment as she had.

A moment that had affected her more than she would ever have anticipated. Had she been told she would experience a gentle moment shared with a future lover, comfortably half asleep in his embrace, with teasing whispered words exchanged, she would have smiled and said it would have been enjoyable, but not all that useful for Atlantis. However, in actually experiencing such a vision, she had felt entirely different to that prediction. It had rocked something deep inside her, and seemed to have shattered her formally easy friendship with John – her future lover if her future vision was to be believed.

If she had seen that future alone, she might not have so affected by what she saw. In seeing it alone and privately, it might have simply given her a sense of joy and relief to think that John might feel attracted to her beyond friendship in a possible future. She would have allowed herself to bask silently in pleasure at the recalled ease and affection she had felt in her future self towards and from John. She could have embraced the experience with no more than warm feelings and slight amusement at what could have been, whether it was in truth a dream, a fantasy, or perhaps another reality that might never come to pass.

However, the vision had been shared, as John's startled and brief eye contact after the experiment had confirmed, and after which there had remained considerable discomfort and awkwardness between them.

It had taken them several days to make direct eye contact again and to share more than monosyllabic words. She had attempted to make small talk with John, in an attempt to ease things, but she had found herself strangely awkward in turn, for his reaction had sparked too many questions in her mind.

Why was he so uncomfortable? Was it because he had not liked what he had seen and experienced? Perhaps he could not understand how his future self could end up sharing a bed with her. Or could it be that he had never looked upon her that way before and now found the concept shocking, or perhaps he might even fear it coming to pass.

Such thoughts had been turning in her mind all week, plaguing her with doubts and a lack of self-confidence that she had not experienced before.

Had she been mistaken in sensing the mutual flirtation between over the years? Had she revealed too much of her affection in that future vision, which he now found uncomfortable? Or could it be that he currently had a lover in the city? He was very withdrawn about his personal life with others. She had never seen him courting a woman, though had heard through Rodney, several years ago, that he had been seeing a woman in the research department, but that had been short lived. She had made sure not to feel anything over such gossip. John had never indicated that he wished there to be more in their friendship and as such she had attempted to set aside such emotionally wayward thoughts linked to their friendship.

At least until the fateful day when Kate Heightmeyer had been killed. Losing a friend was always a painful thing, but on that occasion, it had been made considerably worse by the fact that the killer had been a creature disguising itself as John in their dreams. Teyla had known John would blame himself for that fact even though it had not been his fault, and that thought, mixed with her own deep grief, had led her to seek him out in his quarters. Only, she had not managed to trigger the chimes to call him, instead she had told outside his closed doors, deeply emotional, and debating whether she really could expression her feelings to him – to offer her support for his pain and to reveal her own need for comfort. The decision had been made for her though, for he had appeared through the doors, and had even stated that he had been on his way to find her anyway. For the first time with him, she had let her emotional guard down and had acted on instinct, born of compassion and her own desperate need to be comforted by him. She had stepped forward and embraced him. He had not stepped away or broken the embrace quickly, but she had felt the awkward tension in him, and in that moment she had faced more than grief and sympathy. She had felt his discomfort at their physical embrace so clearly, and it had broken her heart anew. If ever a moment had presented itself for the connection between them to be acknowledged, even in the smallest of ways, it would have been then. However, he had shown nothing but uneasiness with her touch, so she had pulled back from him, tearing herself away from what she had imagined and wished for so strongly. He had remained close to her afterward, his hand touching her arm and offering her a worried smile and a self-deprecating joke that had revealed the depth of his self blame, but it had not been enough.

They were to remain friends and no more, and she had accepted it for real that day.

On the following day, Kanaan had embraced her instead, having seen the depth of her pain and grief. Their people were accustomed to understanding the depth of grief shared in surviving and struggling against the Wraith, and for a very brief time, they had found solace together in that. It had been a night of shared understanding, gentle mutual attraction of long held friendship, and unknowingly at the time it had changed her life forever. Torren had been conceived on that night which had also turned out to be the last time she had seen her people for nine months. Fortunately, Kanaan and many others had eventually been freed from Michael, allowing their people to continue on, and for Torren to have a father.

She and Kanaan had spoken at length following Torren's birth over their own future, but a short number of weeks living together had confirmed what she had suspected, that they were not the people of their past anymore. They were parents together, but not to be lovers and partners for life. She was contented with that decision, though felt somewhat guilty at times that in being close to his son, Kanaan had surrendered much of his time with their people. To the point where he too was now separated from them, perhaps permanently, on Earth with her. He had assured her previously that were such a choice to be made that he would stay with his son, and unfortunately that decision had occurred. He had remained with her on Atlantis during its voyage to Earth, where they were now to remain for the foreseeable future. A handful of other Athosians had been working permanently in Atlantis, training in the Infirmary or other labs, had also chosen to remain in the city. They were single remaining members of their families, all the others lost to Michael and other Wraith, and they felt that their futures were linked, as hers was, with those from Earth on Atlantis. In many ways, it made her feel less alone now to know that others of her people had made the same choice as her, though Kanaan's had been solely focused on their son.

So much had changed over the last few years, and somewhere in all those changes, Teyla realised she had set aside her own plans for the future outside of her son and her people - until last week. In her future vision, she had not seen the future purpose and knowledge of her people she had sought, but instead had seen a part of herself that she had not experienced for some considerable time. The part of her that simply wished to lie in another's arms, to feel love and be loved.

"Teyla?" Carson's voice cut into her thoughts, snapping her back to the present. She looked up from her small container of brightly coloured clear pudding and smiled at Carson across the Mess Hall table.

"I am sorry?" She asked.

"Are you okay?" Carson asked and Teyla became aware that the rest of the table appeared interested in her answer. Except for John sat next to her, his elbow further away from hers than usual, and his attention focused down on his own meal with apparent disinterest.

"Yes," she replied quickly. "I am sorry. Torren did not sleep well last night," she supplied as an excuse.

"He's over his cold isn't he?" Carson asked with some concern as the rest of the table continued on with their own conversations.

"Yes, but I think that perhaps he has gotten too used to not sleeping as much," she replied, which was true enough, but her sleep had not been disturbed so much by her son this week as by her own worrying overly analytical thoughts.

"He'll settle again," Carson assured her with a smile.

"Yes, I am sure he will," she replied automatically before she returned her gaze to her pudding. She had barely eaten any of it. She pushed the tray of food aside and reached for her cooling cup of tea instead.

She attempted to focus on the conversation around the table, but found, as usual this week, that most of her attention was focused on John. She tried not to watch him out of the corner of her eye, but she inevitably did. He made usual joking conversation with everyone, but it was with a somewhat forced edge in her opinion, as if he was trying very hard to appear normal. He barely looked at her for more than a few seconds at a time though.

"I'd better be getting back to the paperwork," John announced, making her aware that her mind had wandered again. Rodney was getting up from the table and John was following, piling everything up on his tray. He smiled around the table as he did, his gaze meeting hers only for a moment. In that brief meeting of eye contact, she saw the now usual reluctance, perhaps embarrassment, and a small tight smile. He was making an effort not to appear uncomfortable.

They had not discussed, even for a moment, what they had both experienced, and she knew that she was going to have to initiate the conversation. Perhaps that was why he continued to look nervous and embarrassed around her, because he was anticipating the discussion. It was very much like him to react this way, and despite the fact that he could take it upon himself to talk first, he would not. It was not in his nature to take the lead with personal issues, he preferred the less direct approach. Which made her wonder why she had not yet broached the subject matter herself.

Only she knew why, because she suspected she knew how the conversation would go. He would be uncomfortable and she would reassure him that all was well between them and that they should just move forward. He would be relieved and likely apologise for being awkward around her, and then they would both agree to make an effort for their friendship. It was a conversation she realised they had had several times already over the years – the first time being when he had impulsively kissed her when infected with the Iratus retrovirus, then when he had been so angry with her for concealing her pregnancy, and finally when they had argued about her joining the team again after Torren's birth.

She really did not want to have the same discussion again because…it would be like that embrace outside his quarters. It would be another moment where they would step close to something emotional in their friendship and then step quickly away. Their friendship was stronger for those shared difficulties, but she knew that this time, perhaps it would be the last of chances. In stepping away from this, it would be the last nail driving closed what would never be.

She took a breath and stood up, lifting her tray and smiling to those remaining at the table. She would talk with him now, it had gone on too long for both of them and she hated to feel the distance and discomfort between them any longer. If her future vision had revealed nothing more, it had told her that the ties between her and John were strong and real, even if they were to be based only on friendship and nothing more.

She caught up with him on the stairs. "Colonel Sheppard?" She called to him as she hurried up the steps after him. He glanced back at her and she saw his reticence clearly. "Do you have a moment to talk?" She asked, keeping her tone that of work in front of the few other people moving up and down the stairs around them.

"Sure," he replied with a strained smile, his expression telling her that he too was both relieved and painfully anxious about this conversation. "My office alright?" He added. The room was on the level below the Gate room and private enough, but not too much so for him.

"Of course," she replied with a smile of her own, though it felt somewhat fake across her cheeks.

They walked in silence down the corridor to where his office door slid open for him as they approached. He had rarely used this room before Atlantis had settled on Earth, but now had to spend far more time here. The desk inside was free of clutter, except for his laptop, a pile of hand scribbled notes to himself, a framed photo of their team stood together with Torren, and a mug of likely very cold coffee. John spied the cold coffee mug and moved it aside with disgust before he perched himself on the edge of his desk, arms crossed, facing her with his lips pressed together with what she guessed was supposed to be an encouraging invitation for her to start. The door slid shut behind her, sealing them in together and she suddenly felt more anxious herself.

Seeking even a moment's distraction as she gathered her thoughts, she reached out to touch the bright green leaves of the tall plant stood to the side of the room. It had been a gift to him from Colonel Carter, but Teyla had not understood the significance of the way John had reacted to the gift. John was not one for plants in his room, despite many being available in the botany department for those in the city.

She took a breath and forced herself to begin, since it was clear that John was struggling at what he should say. His pained expression was almost amusing, echoing hers and suddenly emphasising the absurdity of the situation. That fact made her turn her opening words into a bemused smile of her own.

It seemed to help though, because John's shoulders lowered slightly and he smiled somewhat. His smile helped her to speak finally, and she went straight to the heart of the matter, knowing that John would appreciate it.

"John, I would hate for six minutes of what was, most likely, an alternate reality's future experienced through an ancient and unknowable piece of Ancestor technology to permanently damage our friendship," she said, only pausing a few times to make sure she said it as precisely as possible.

He glanced away and down, but she could already see relief in his expression and the formally tense straight line of his shoulders had relaxed further.

"Our friendship is too important to me," she added.

He smiled at that, be it still somewhat stilted, but he held her eye contact for the longest time all week. "It is to me too," he replied and she smiled with relief of her own.

"I suggest that we put what was most likely not even the future," she said, verbally stumbling slightly, but she strove on, "and set it aside."

"It was probably another reality anyway," he replied seeming very eager to agree with her assessment that what they had seen was not their future.

"Exactly," she agreed, as she worked not to let the strange pulling disappointment in her chest show in her expression.

"Like the one Rod came from," he added as if it added more weight to their theory.

In seeing his relief at this answer, she kept agreeing, for his sake, and for the sake of their friendship. "Or one of the realities the Daedalus jumped into," she considered.

"Exactly," John agreed, his arms uncrossed now. "Rodney says there's supposed to be an infinite number of other realities." She nodded. "It would make sense that in one of them, maybe you and me would…" he ran out of words having realised that he had walked right back into the heart of the matter and now would have to find words to describe it.

"Yes," she said quickly saving him from having to finish the description that was undoubtedly replaying in his memory as it was hers. "And, I think that in knowing that there is a reality out there where we have…such great affection for one another, can only prove how strong our friendship can remain."

She was pleased with that argument, and she believed it. There was something positive to be taken out of any experience and that would be what the vision could give them. She made sure that conviction was clear in her expression as she looked up at him.

"Sure," he replied, looking slightly surprised, as he tensely smiled again. "Great." He nodded, seeming slightly awkward once more.

She smiled at him with more feeling and he held her gaze for a moment longer, likely to prove that he could again. She appreciated the effort. Silence returned, but then she guessed that things would remain slightly uneasy for a little while, but like each time before when they had had to reaffirm their friendship, things would return to normal between them again.

She tried not to feel sad and disappointed about that, and so sought for something else to say to him to stride out on the more normal relationship again.

"Why did Colonel Carter give you a plant as a gift for your office?" She asked latching on to the one question that came immediately to her.

"It's a joke, kind of," he replied, jumping at the chance for a change of subject. "It's her way of telling me I'm going to have to spend more time at my desk."

Teyla believed she understood. "By decorating your office space."

"Yeah," he replied now more relaxed. He pushed up from the edge of the desk and moved around behind it instead. "It's what all desk jockeys have – a plant on your desk."

Teyla smiled at the large potted plant. "This would not fit on your desk," she noted, suspected she understood Colonel Carter's silent point.

John had sat down in his chair on the other side of the desk and smiled at her as he made a show of getting comfortable. "Think it would get me out of paperwork if I put it on the desk?" He asked, a weak joke, but she appreciated it.

"I doubt it," she replied with a smile as she turned away. "I will leave you to your paperwork," she told him over her shoulder, silently acknowledging that he was perhaps using it as a good excuse for their discussion to end. The conversation had gone well, but Teyla could see through his paperwork excuse. He hated paperwork.

She saw his cheek tweak at that, but she was already at the door and she activated the crystals to open it.

"You and Torren going to be at dinner in the Mess Hall tonight?" He asked, surprising her.

"Yes, we will," she replied from the open doorway.

"Great, I'll see you both there," he replied with a smile.

She nodded and walked away, the door shutting behind her as she headed down the corridor. It had been a successful conversation between them, and had turned out almost as she had predicted.

Only this time, she felt a well of sadness in her middle. She had known it was how he was going to respond, yet a part of her had hoped…

00000

John was feeling better about the world. The last couple of days had almost been back to normal, albeit somewhat strained at times with Teyla. He had tried to be as 'normal' as possible, and the effort was paying off. She no longer looked at him like he might explode or startle at any moment, and she seemed more relaxed herself.

He couldn't say that he wasn't disappointed though – in the situation, in himself, and in life at the moment.

For the first couple of days after the vision, he had lived in a strange hopeful place, in which he felt like life had given him a chance, an insight which gave him some hope for the future. Only, after a few more days, through which he and Teyla barely looked at each other, he began to realise that she was probably reacting that way because she was freaked about what she had seen. Which was a problem, because Teyla was the one of the team, and most of the city, who could handle any situation, so that she was so thrown had not been a good sign.

What had he expected anyway? She was with Kanaan and they had a kid together. He was just lucky that when they had finally talked, that she hadn't looked at him like she pitied him. He couldn't have handled that. Instead, she had been more than willing to brush aside what they had seen as some other reality, and he had jumped at it too – all the better for pretending that she didn't want him.

It probably had been another reality, or some weird Ancient hallucination kicked off by Janus' machine. Rodney and the other scientists had been arguing over the issue all week, and the majority agreed that it was more likely that they had witnessed six minutes of an alternate version's life.

Which was fine, he could live with that, and clearly Teyla wanted to go with that theory. So, he had made an effort, brush it all aside and pretend it didn't mean anything. He could do that, he was a master at that kind of approach, and it was already paying off. Life was returning to normal, and what was wrong with that?

The door to his office slid open by itself, drawing John's attention immediately. He hadn't heard the chimes, but then a second later General O'Neill filled the doorway, clearly having activated the door ahead of his approach.

"Sorry 'bout that," O'Neill apologised half-heartedly that suggested he wasn't really.

"General," John greeted him as he stood up to attention, but O'Neill waved him back down with near disgust. Strange how the only people John felt compelled to show proper respect, didn't want it. He smiled as he sat back down.

"Busy?" O'Neill asked as he moved into the office, the question seemingly innocent, but the way he was looking around at John's desk implied that he thought John had nothing to do.

John still wasn't sure why the IOA and Earth Defence had decided that he should remain Military Commander of Atlantis, despite it being on Earth and everyone assuming a General would be assigned to run the place. Perhaps it was the fact that he and Woolsey were sharing running the city, but it hadn't escaped John's notice that O'Neill spent a lot of time visiting the city. He worked with Woolsey a lot, which he clearly didn't enjoy, but John suspected he was also here to watch over John as well. John didn't mind, in fact he liked the General's visits.

"No, nothing to do," John shrugged, playing along with the game, as O'Neill sat down.

"Great, just how it should be," O'Neill replied and then smiled. It was a somewhat worrying smile. The last time John had seen it, it had been followed by O'Neill's announcement that John would remain in charge of Atlantis. Today though, it had a new mischievous smirk mixed in with the amusement.

"Since you've got nothing going on, I've got a mission for you," O'Neill announced after a long second.

That piqued John's interest. "Off world?" He asked, trying not to sound too eager.

"Nope," O'Neill replied, his attention having wavered to the potted plant just to his left, which he did each time he visited as if he was taking a personal interest in how it was doing.

Slightly disheartened by not going off world, John asked, "Someone interesting coming into the city?"

"Nope," O'Neill replied as he returned his full attention back to John.

John waited for more, but O'Neill just grinned. "Am I supposed to guess?" John asked, pushing it slightly, but the General was never a stickler for protocol.

O'Neill's grin widened. "You're gonna love me for this."

John lifted his eyebrows. What would be the most appropriate response to a general telling you that? I love you already Sir?

"Will I?" John asked with exaggerated suspicion.

"How do you feel about a week's trip to Hawaii?"

"I feel good about it," John replied immediately and entirely truthfully.

"There's more," O'Neill tempted. "You'll have to stay in a luxury condo on the beach, and, unfortunately, you will be required to play quite a lot of golf."

John tried vainly to control his delight. "Any surfing time?" He asked instead.

"I think that should be okay," O'Neill replied.

John considered it for all of a millisecond before he asked, "What's the catch?"

"It's an easy mission, Sheppard. We just need you to keep an eye on a particular businessman who will be staying in the next condo over."

John nodded, turning his mind away from the excited thoughts of golfing in Hawaii! He needed to be professional right now. "What's he up to?"

"You know anything about the stuff coming out of Area 51?"

"You mean the off world technology?" John asked.

"For years now, Area 51 was been working with a select and very small number of businesses that can gradually incorporate alien technology into the technology of the future. However, as you know from your run in with the nanite technology lose on Earth, sometimes these things get out of our control."

"It's the danger of using civilian contractors," John agreed. "You can't control everyone who has access to the technology. So this guy's gotten hold of something he shouldn't?"

"Not yet," O'Neill replied with feeling. "At least as far as we can tell. But, Woolsey and one of the IOA lackeys saw evidence in their little future visions to suggest that he does get his claws on some of it, and not for the good intended advancements we would hope for."

"Weapons?" John guessed.

"Probably. We'd already been tipped off about him from one of our trusted contractors, who said he had been fishing for information."

"What's this guy's name?"

"Jeff Salisbury. Built his father's small time electronics company up into a near empire in the late 80s, which he then sold off part of it for a fortune and turned the rest into a definite global empire instead."

"I haven't heard of him," John considered.

"He has a hand in most of the powerful electronic and engineering companies in the western hemisphere, but he keeps his head down. He had a less than perfect record growing up, something of a thug even in kindergarten. Hates authority."

John nodded – classic trouble for the SGC. "What's he up to in Hawaii?"

"Not sure, possibly just an innocent vacation. He loves golf, spends a fortune going to the best courses in the world, but its possible he also uses those vacations to meet up with some contacts. Maybe someone who's given him some leaked information."

"So we want to catch him in the act," John concluded.

"That's not the mission. We have no authority or real evidence that he's up to no good. He might not even have the information we think he has yet, or ever will. Your job is just to keep an eye on anyone he meets up with on his vacation."

"We don't have the authority?"

"What we going to say? That we got our evidence from an alien device that transports your mind to the future, so that you can watch six minutes of your life, remember it all correctly and then give accurate testimony later?"

John had to admit that probably wouldn't go down well.

"Besides the best minds here are still arguing about whether that was the actual future you saw," O'Neill added, like John needed to be reminded of that argument. "For now, we're just going to use any opportunity we can to keep an eye on him, just casually. You won't have any backup, it's just going to be the two of you."

"Two of us?" John asked.

"You and Teyla," O'Neill supplied. "We managed to get the condo next to Salisbury's with the story that you're a top businessman on your honeymoon."

"Honeymoon?" John almost yelped through his constricted throat.

"Sure, innocent enough to him," O'Neill replied. "That won't be a problem for you two, will it?" There had been the tiniest of pauses before the question and John snapped his attention to O'Neill's face, scrutinising it closely. He couldn't read anything there, but John worried what the pause had meant. Did O'Neill think he and Teyla were together?

"We're just friends, Sir," John found himself stating.

"Never thought otherwise," O'Neill replied, but there was another odd edge to the words that suggested the general was having fun at John's expense. John narrowed his eyes at his superior.

"Have you spoken to Teyla about the assignment?" John asked.

"I'll talk to her next, but I've already spoken with her about doing some occasional missions for us on Earth. She's the one we really want for this mission, you're her backup and the golf lackey we need."

John ignored the teasing digs at him, as he was too surprised at the fact that Teyla had signed up for undercover work. She hadn't said anything about that. "Really?"

"Sure, you've got a decent swing, I've heard," O'Neill replied as he stood up, deliberately misunderstanding John's question. "She's got no footprint anywhere on Earth outside the SGC. She's never had a bank account, never gone to high school, no one anywhere could recognise her – she's perfect for this kind of thing, especially up against a guy with the contacts Salisbury's got." John hadn't thought of Teyla's status on Earth like that before, but it made sense.

"Plus," O'Neill added, "It's possible she might get some information out of Salisbury's wife now or in the future. It's worth setting up a casual meeting now, two wives consoling each other while their uncaring husbands play golf on their vacations."

Clearly O'Neill had all this planned. "The IOA happy with Teyla leaving the city?" John asked, since there had been issues with her and Ronon being on Earth at first.

"All sorted. I trust her more than half my staff at Earth Defence; she's tough, honourable, and has a good sense of humour," O'Neill stated with pride, as if he had trained her himself. "You made a good choice…in inviting her to join your team," he added. There had been another one of those pauses.

John froze his expression. "Both Teyla and Ronon have been a vital part of my team and this city."

"Which is what I told the IOA. You're both gonna be flying out of San Francisco on commercial flights tomorrow just after 0900 hours. I've got someone coming in to brief you both this afternoon at 1300 hours, she'll have all you need, including wardrobe and paperwork. Name of Mattie, but call her Matilda," O'Neill added with that mischievous smile again.

"Yes, Sir," John replied, standing up belatedly as O'Neill opened the door without touching the controls. "Ahh, thank you, Sir."

"Enjoy yourself," O'Neill replied as he walked out, only to pause and look back. "But not too much."

John opened his mouth to object or defend himself, but O'Neill was gone.

00000

Matilda turned out to be a highly efficient administrator who had a wide smile, which dimmed only briefly when John had called her Matilda.

"I will be sure to thank the General for that," she replied with a bemused smile. "Please call me Mattie."

"Sure, Mat-tie," John replied with emphasis and she smiled. She had worked for O'Neill for a number of years, the General having demanded she accompany him from the SGC to his new position in Earth Defence. She was surprisingly skinny for her age, which John guessed to be in her late forties, and she wore her pantsuit as comfortably as if she were used to wearing it at home. John felt oddly dishevelled next to her, and found himself straightening his lightly crumpled jacket as he sat down beside Teyla around the a table in Teyla's quarters. Torren wasn't around unfortunately – he was probably out for a walk with Kanaan.

"I have put together files for you both, and an extra one for you Teyla, may I call you Teyla or do you prefer Ms. Emmagan?"

Teyla took the two plastic folders from the woman with a smile. John waited to see how she would respond as he took his own file.

"Teyla is fine, thank you, Mattie," she replied with her usual calm charm.

"Wonderful. As you will see in the main file, a basic identity has been put together for you both. We'll keep the details saved on record in case you might need to take on your roles again in the future, so anything you add to the story please do let us know after the mission is complete. These are rough guides for you to expand upon, though the business background information we have created for you, Colonel, should be stuck to as precisely as possible."

"John," John added as he glanced down the detailed, clearly outlined background of this cover. "John, is fine," he clarified as he looked up to Mattie, feeling he should join in the casualness of the two women.

"Of course," Mattie replied. "Your name is Charles, known as Charlie, Collingwood." John winced at it. "You come from a very rich and powerful family, and you have added to that wealth through excellent investments in up and coming companies. You are a shareholder in Mr. Nelson's company, he is the contact General O'Neill would have mentioned to you. Mr Nelson has dropped your name into a conversation with Mr Salisbury last month in remarking that he knew you will be in Hawaii at the same time. Mr Salisbury will know nothing of you, and since he is a somewhat suspicious, though arrogant person, I would advise the most subtle approach."

"General O'Neill suggested I could make contact with Mrs Salisbury," Teyla said looking up from her file.

"Yes, Annette Salisbury is a somewhat neglected wife emotionally, but receives all the very best of life supplied by her husband's wealth. She's been known to take interest in other men, but as far as we have discovered, she has never strayed. They don't have any children, and Mr Salisbury has no other surviving family other than his elderly father and a cousin who has taken a position in one of Salisbury's electronic companies."

John turned a few pages in his file, scanning over the details of Mrs Salisbury's recent credit card purchases.

"We designed your background Teyla to mesh with hers. Your name is Freya Collingwood. You were born to an African father and an English mother."

John smiled at that. "That'll cover your being so polite."

Teyla frowned at him. "Being English or African?"

"The English are overly polite and upper class about everything," John replied.

Teyla frowned. "Is not Owen in anthropology and Mark in Radek's department both English?" John wondered how she knew these men so well as to refer to them by their first names. He couldn't even think who she meant. "They both have a cheeky personality," she added with an amused smile as she looked back down to her file.

John felt the strangest rush of jealousy and annoyance, which he quickly squashed because he had no right to feel that way about her.

She was with Kanaan.

A bizarre six minute view of a possible future didn't mean that he had a right to think of her as his in anyway. Only…

"Cheeky?" He repeated surprised at her choice of description along with the brightness to her smile.

She smiled at him again. "Mark is the one who changed all the labels on Radek's last experiment."

John had to smile at that. "Oh yeah, that was funny."

"Anyway," Mattie added, drawing their attention back to her. "You grew up in England until you were twenty-one, when you moved to the United States to live with a cousin. You went into PR, public relations, and are highly successful. You met Charles at a charity function three years ago and hit it off. You have been engaged for just over a year and marry in a small ceremony, officially today, the day before you start your honeymoon."

John glanced at Teyla – it was weird hearing someone talk like that about them, even though it was not actually about them. Teyla nodded along with Mattie.

"In your second file, Teyla, I have included information on American, English and African traditions that you may wish to know. I have also included some pointers on the American lingo, information on honeymoons, and suggestions on behaviour."

"Behaviour?" Teyla asked with interest.

"Yes, on a honeymoon, a couple usually are quite affectionate, though one would expect a man like Mr Collingwood to be more restrained," Mattie supplied and both the women looked at him with amusement. John frowned at them as they looked away. "Simply holding hands, having a pet name for each other, that sort of thing would be advisable to sell your story."

Okay, now John was feeling uncomfortable again. He glanced at Teyla, but she was nodding as she leafed through her second file. He angled his head to see if he could see what any of it said, but he couldn't make any of it out.

"You'll be flying out of San Francisco international airport tomorrow morning. Here are your passports and flight information. You will be staying on the Hawaiian island of Kaua'i, in Princeville. There is a relatively new luxury resort, in which Mr Salisbury has a share, on the north shore, close to the golf course. You will be landing in Lihue airport and we've arranged a helicopter ride from there up to Princeville airport, where there will be a hire car waiting for you to drive to the resort. You should be there for lunchtime their time."

John opened his mouth to ask if he was going to get to fly the chopper, but Mattie continued, not allowing him the chance.

"We have a selection of clothes for you in those suitcases. If you need anything more, we can have it ready for you at San Francisco tomorrow morning. The weather currently on Kaua'i is warm with occasional showers, but they should hopefully clear up throughout the week. Any questions?" Mattie asked.

John felt slightly stunned as he shook his head and looked back down at the list of guests at his and Teyla's wedding – or non wedding.

He'd only been thinking this morning how things were getting easier with Teyla, that they could move forward and focus on their friendship, and now he was going to pretend to be her husband for the week…in Hawaii, and playing golf.

Either this was some sort of torture, or likely the best ever vacation!

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TBC